Vipsu

@Vipsu@lemmy.world

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Julian Assange has reached a plea deal with the U.S., allowing him to go free⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Keep in mind that during the US Presidential Election of 2016 Assange had already spent 3~ years living in the Embassy of Ecuador in London. Add in how the United states wanted him extradited to serve potentially life in prison and was probably using all sorts of surveilance and information gathering methods against him and wikileaks to prevent and mitigate any future leaks.

  Now when you’re facing and opponent known for its power to assasinate world leaders and powerful political figures, power to spy, hack and survey even their close allies for years, influence other goverments and politicians through blackmail, extortion and economic means you’re bound to get a bit stressed and go a bit paranoid. When it comes to Russia the oppinions towards them where a lot more favorable in 2010-2022 as most of Europe wanted to keep access to affordable oil and gas. Meanwhile Anti-imperialist sentiment against US was probably at it’s alltime high with the War in Afghanistan and Libya.

  Wikileaks was never really a beacon of free speech its always been more of a platform where people can leak information about goverments and other powerful individuals or organizations doing bunch of shady or downright evil stuff behind our back. These often offer rare glimpse behind the scenes allowing us to be little less blind when voting during whather elections comes next.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Julian Assange has reached a plea deal with the U.S., allowing him to go free⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Hopefully he can safely return to his home country and take a long deserved rest from this all.
  It’ll probably take a decade or more to recover mentally from all the shit he has gone through.

  I just hope he takes his time to recover and passes the wikileaks torch as all the accumulated resentment and paranoia will probably take a while to shed off. Going all out on anti-american frenzy on social media and whatnot would likely lead to undesirable outcome for him in public eye.

  I’m wondering if it was worth the sacrifice. The governments and tech companies are spying more than ever on everyone.

  Snowden revelations and Wikileaks have made E2EE pretty much a standard for most internet services. People are also far less naive when it comes to online privacy which has spawned bunch of regulations like GDPR and bunch of investigations on how well services and products handle information security.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Julian Assange has reached a plea deal with the U.S., allowing him to go free⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Assange is a citizen of Australia and since The United States is known for spying on its allies the act of exposing US informants would be closer to serving ones own country than act of treason.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨New Doom Game Could Be Announced At Xbox Showcase In June⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  If its a single player focused with no (or very minimal) live service bullshit then great. If not then well there’s bunch of indie or classic boomer shooters I’ve not yet tried that are just that.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Microsoft Closes Redfall Developer Arkane Austin, Hi-Fi Rush Developer Tango Gameworks, and More in Devastating Cuts at Bethesda⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Honestly all these tech layoffs could really come bite back publishers and the big tech in the near future. Theres a lot new talent for competitors to snatch and fraction of these developers might even form up new studios to make the next big thing.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Meta just showed off Threads’ fediverse integration for the very first time⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  While Meta might have ulterior motives for fediverse integration this might also be just one way to comply with Europes new DMA regulation.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Painful day for tech titans as EU finally sinks its regulatory teeth into them⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Did Nokia even have official digital markpetplace for their phones? I only remember silly 3rd party stores selling ringtones and backgrounds through text messages. Maybe when smartphones became a thing and when iOS and Android phones were already dominating the industry. If I recall correctly some Nokia phones even supported sideloading with data cable.

  Their phones where also generally fairly durable with replacable batteries and chargers (3rd party options being available for both) and from what I gather fairly easy to open and repair.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Tekken 8 players divided as devs add “Tekken Shop” with microtransactions⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I wish more players would just ignore these cosmetic microtransactions and go with the default skin or at least limit themselves to ones that can be obtained by actually achieving something in the game. Using default skin while outplaying people in competitive games could probably induce some people to make quite salty comments.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Are there any games like Diablo but not Diablo because Diablo?⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Grim Dawn feels a little mechanically dated at this point but it’s still solid

  Honestly Grim dawn is probably the most polished action rpg I’ve ever played. The developers have spend a ton of time adjusting the game mechanics, balance and build variety to be as good as possible. This is quite a contrast to games like path of exile where the developers are costantly adding new mechanics and bunch of new items each season. Sure doing so keeps the game feeling fresh which is important for live service but results in a lot more rough edges.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Are there any games like Diablo but not Diablo because Diablo?⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Actually bought Diablo III: Eternal Collection for PS4 just because it can be played offline and all the content is on the disc. For my understanding both Diablo 4 and Diablo II: Resurrected require internet connection.

  MIght still pick them up for a discount to just check them out at some point ignoring most of the live service bullshit stuff like skins and special mounts.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Are there any games like Diablo but not Diablo because Diablo?⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s ok but many of levels later in the game (especially dlc levels) are just way way way too long. People keep replaying the Soggy Cave and few other levels just because they’re short.

  I do like however the variety the game has with weapons, items and skills.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Are there any games like Diablo but not Diablo because Diablo?⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Yeah both Sacred games have their fair share of jank on you’ll need to apply community patches and possibly mods to even make them work on todays systems. However what they do not lack is soul as both games are clearly made with love and feel very unique compared to many modern games.

  If you can forgive the jank and don’t mind to play older games with somewhat dated graphics I feel these games can still provide a lot of enjoyment. Would love to see remasters for these games or eveb a spiritual sequel.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Are there any games like Diablo but not Diablo because Diablo?⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Here’s a few:

  • Grim Dawn
  • Titan Quest
  • Sacred Series
  • The incredible adventures of Van Helsing
  • Warhammer 40k: Inquisitor - martyr
  • Divine Divinity
  • Torchlight series

  Then there’s Last Epoch and Path of Exile

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Are there any games like Diablo but not Diablo because Diablo?⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Torchlight 1-2 are decent fun for normal playthrough but plagued by bad design decisions and downright silly difficulty spikes on harder difficulties. Mods probably fix many of these issues but in vanilla the build diversity on harder difficulties is quite bad with only handful of viable builds with skill trees full of “trap skills”.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Thousands of Software Engineers Say the Job Market Is Getting Much Worse⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  AI may lead to less hiring but it’ll also lead to more software developers creating new competing software, services and technologies.

  The likes of Microsoft, Google and Meta may have greatly underestimated the change this may bring to the industry.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Game devs should follow the BG3 development footprint⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  That approach works for some studios and some game projects but it’s no silver bullet. A lot of times gamers don’t know what they want until it’s handed on them on a silver platter, sometimes outside influence may also stray the developers from their original vision. Also a lot of gamers also don’t know what they like until its handed on them on a silver platter which can make taking the correct kind of feedback really difficult.

  That being said, developing game in complete secrecy for years and expecting it to become a success has pretty much the same chance as winning in a lottery. Getting MVP out there asap to see if the game will receive any sort of traction and feedback is generally the best approach unless it already has an audience (sequel or well known developer).

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Capcom announces Monster Hunter Wilds, coming 2025⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Hopefully this wont be full of microtransactions even of the cosmetic kind. Monster hunter world was amazing but Capcom has become more and more greedy for the past few years.

  It’s probably really tempting for them to convert Monster Hunter franchise in to a modern live service with bunch of premium cosmetics, battle passes and Fomo traps. Exoprimal and Street Fighter VI are already suffering from these.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What are some alternative to soulless videogame franchises?⁩ ⁨⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  To Each Their Own I guess. Single player games tend to respect players time a lot more and thus usually require a lot less grinding or farming to complete. That being said Grim Dawn does have online multiplayer and community hosted seasons.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨YouTube's ‘War’ on Adblockers Shows How Google Controls the Internet⁩ ⁨⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Honestly this feels like the only possible way to win against Youtube. Goal could be to just create standardized decentralized platform where number of different companies/organizations can host and serve their own content while still being searchable and accessible from single client application.

  Major problem with Mastodon, Lemmy and Peertube is searching and browsing content from multiple instances is still difficult.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What are some alternative to soulless videogame franchises?⁩ ⁨⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Sure but for how long and in what state?

  There’s a lot of enshittification going around with games and services with more greedy business practices and it would be naive to think GGG is immune to it. When it comes to live service games certain level of skepticism is healthy to have. Now I do hope we’ll be able to play POE1 even 10 or 20 years from now with it being just as good.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What are some alternative to soulless videogame franchises?⁩ ⁨⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Maybe I am just getting old but I’ve started to spend a lot more time with older games and titles that may be rough around the endges but have some unique ideas and actually take some risks with their game mechanics.

  One of these games is Outward which has a lot of walking (quick travel is almost non existent) and serviceable combat system that leaves a lot to be desired. However both of these do give the game some flavor that is missing from many modern games now combine this with interesting “death” mechanic where instead of respawning you’re thrown in to random scenarios related to the area where you died. Another mechanic is backpack which you’ll need to carry any meaningful amount of items and which will limit your movement in battle if you do not drop it with all your items. The way palyer needs to sacrifice health to receive mana is also interesting and how different each mastery tree is is also nice. I do have to admit that I’d like the game a lot more without time limits on quests as they stress really me out.

  Another one is Incredible adventures of Van Helsing which is diablo-style ARPG that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It took me awhile to understand the games mechanics which lead to bad time initially but once I understood the power-up system, focus on flat elemental damage bonuses instead of percentage based ones and how silly some skills where with power-up the game got me hooked. The dialogue and story is also pretty good for ARPG and fully voice acted.

  Third one is Wurm: Unlimited which is basically special version of MMORPG Wurm: Online where players can host their own servers with their own tweaks and mods. While Wurm Online is substriction based mmorpg with very very slow progression most Wurm Unlimited servers are free to play and have quadruple experience modifiers making the game a lot more enjoyable. The game is basically medival fantasy sandbox where players can terraform the world, build all sorts of structures, hunt, farm and even do pvp on pvp servers. While a lot of the game is just pressing buttons and waiting for action timers to pass there’s a lot of depth in the game and it can get suprisingly immersive. I do however recommend joining to one of the long lasting servers like Sklotopolis instead of playing the game solo on self-hosted server as the experience is a lot better with small community even if you prefer to do things solo as the world will feel a lot more interactive and a lot less empty.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What are some alternative to soulless videogame franchises?⁩ ⁨⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I second Grim Dawn as it’s clearly labor of love from the developers and still getting updates. I also like the fact that its not live service like Path of exile meaning that it does not require online connection and can be even be modded.

  It remains to be seen with GGG will do with Path of Exile 1 when they release Path of Exile 2, it would be cool if they would release something like POE Unlimited a premium version of the game that would allow people to play the first game as single player experience, mod it and host their of servers.

  But in this day and age it’s much more likely that they’ll just force people to move on to their next big thing.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Stop using Fandom⁩ ⁨⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Quoting what I said in earlier reply:

  Neither of these where completely empty when I found them. Been updating them and filling some gaps in the wiki for the fun of it.

  I have not created any wikis myself I’ve just contributed to few that I’ve found which unfortunately have been hosted on fandom.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Stop using Fandom⁩ ⁨⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  The problem is that the content is already in wiki fandom and there are no contributors invested/interested enough to migrate all the information to alternative wiki. These fandom wikis have no teams just random individuals making contributions of various sizes.

  If I do ever get invested enough to a game to actually create a wiki I’ll definately use something else than fandom.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Stop using Fandom⁩ ⁨⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Well old games like The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing: Final Cut or Moero Chronicles. Neither of these where completely empty when I found them. Been updating them and filling some gaps in the wiki for the fun of it.

  Many would consider both of these games “dead” by many metrics but people can still buy them, play them and have fun with them.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Stop using Fandom⁩ ⁨⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  All too common within attention economy for people to go for the more popular choice.
  Search engine algorithms tend to make things even worse.

  But there are games out there that might not even have wikis if Fandom didn’t make the barrier of entry so low.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Stop using Fandom⁩ ⁨⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Does this mean self-hosting the wiki? Because that increase the barrier of entry by tenfold as a lot of publishers/game studios do not host their own wikis.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Stop using Fandom⁩ ⁨⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Fandom hosts a lot of wikis for long forgotten nich’e games and with these games there usually isn’t enough interest to move to another wiki. When it comes to these wikis theres rarely if ever a team behind updating the wiki and more often than not the content is just being updated and maintained by random invidividuals who just happen to be engaging with the content at given time. The very low barrier of entry makes this possible as you don’t really need to join a team to edit pages or even coordinate with other people.

  When playing one of these games I like to record and share some my observations and findings about games mechanics etc but more often than not the only wiki I can find is fandom wiki that is either incomplete and possibly even abandoned. I cant be bothered to create my own Wiki for these games so I’ll just start editing that one instead because it’s easy, the foundation is usually already there and I don’t need to bother taking any sort of mantle of maintainer or admin.

  While Fandom may not be the most optimal choice and there may be better ways to host wiki out there its still better than some obnoxious google document or poorly formatted steam guide that no one else can edit.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Microsoft Edge could use a win⁩ ⁨⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Sounds like good opportunity for US and Europe to whip out some fines over Anticompetitive practices. With Microsoft sort of being repeat offender the fines should reflect that.

  Honestly with Edge being not too bad alternative for Chrome this sort of shady behavior from Microsoft doesn’t do it any good at least in my eyes.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨These Prisoners Are Training AI : In high-wage Finland, where clickworkers are rare, one company has discovered a novel labor force—prisoners.⁩ ⁨⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  We can make fairly accurate assumptions on prisoners rights simply based on the fact that the prison is located in Finland. Here’s article from Yle (one of the trusted news organizations in Finland) describing finnish prisons.