moakley
@moakley@lemmy.world
- Comment on 5 days ago:
Yes, words matter.
But the ends don’t justify the means. Morality isn’t outcome-oriented. It’s wrong to kill someone just for their words and ideas.
If the assassin had targeted the people enacting those ideas, that might be different. But assassinations tend to be a net negative. I can’t think of an exception.
- Comment on 5 days ago:
There’s a long list of people taking our liberties away, and the guy who says stupid shit is pretty far down on that list. Words matter, but they’re not violence.
- Comment on You might need this. 6 days ago:
*you’re
- Comment on gaming 1 week ago:
Oh man. I remember the very small Castle Crashers vs. competitive scene on Xbox in 2008. I was 15th ranked in the world, and probably higher than that in actual skill.
I met a couple of really cool people on there. Most of us were about evenly matched, and a game could go either way.
But the number one player was this shit-talking child with a voice that could shatter glass. Normally I love shit-talkers in competitive scenes. I don’t tilt easy, so I feel like I get an edge on them.
But not this banshee. I don’t know if I ever even got a hit on him. I saw it as a challenge to overcome, but he just fucking wrecked me every time I saw him.
The gameplay in vs. was so crazy. Castle Crashers seems like a simple game, but with the right combos you could get airborne and never touch the ground. So most of the game was trying to get under your opponent so you could juggle them endlessly, back and forth across the screen. But you had to execute. It was tough to keep the combo going for long enough to beat someone in one go, and once you slipped up, they could do the same to you.
So my memory from that time was this shrill little fucker, gleefully shrieking about my mother while his brightly colored knight juggled mine back and forth across the top of the screen. Honestly kind of fitting for that game.
- Comment on Google's plan to restrict sideloading on Android has a potential escape hatch for users 1 week ago:
If they blocked it now, people would just sideload it.
- Comment on No brainer 1 week ago:
It’s so obviously this or the gravel.
- Comment on Baldur's Gate 3 or Clair Obscur: Expedition 33? 2 weeks ago:
It just felt hard to relate to. The core premise is intriguing like I want to see where it goes, but it’s not intriguing like I feel personally invested in it.
Baldur’s Gate just had this perfect buildup, where you’re trying to solve a personal problem, and then it just keeps growing until you’re killing gods.
- Comment on Baldur's Gate 3 or Clair Obscur: Expedition 33? 2 weeks ago:
I’m not usually a fan of turn based games.
Baldur’s Gate 3 hooked me. It was one of my favorite gaming experiences ever. I played through it two and a half times, consecutively.
I couldn’t get through Expedition 33. It’s very well done, but the story itself never hooked me. It just felt too abstract, like it never got me emotionally invested.
And the gameplay was too narrow. I’m sure it opened up after a while, but it would still be the same kind of turn based combat the whole time.
- Comment on Taco Bell rethinks AI drive-through after man orders 18,000 waters 2 weeks ago:
I’ve never liked most of their food, but you used to be able to get a hot, cheap, and quick meal there. And at least the fries were tasty, and the Coca-Cola was perfect.
In the 80s and 90s, going to McDonald’s felt like a guilty pleasure. It felt cheap, but you were in on it so it was ok.
Now it feels cheap at your expense. It’s sparse, like they’re providing the minimal viable product. The fries are garbage, the Coke is garbage, and the service is garbage.
- Comment on And they even get a seizure when you take their ipads away 2 weeks ago:
You don’t know that it’s “most often”.
That’s just how you feel about it. You’re being judgmental but don’t have any idea.
- Comment on Best Co-Op Games? 2 weeks ago:
It’s insanely good. At some point I want to make a post just about UFO 50, just to spread the word, but I don’t even know where to start.
Fifty is just an insane number of games, and so many of them are so god damn good.
Even now I want to be like, Porgy would be worth the cost on its own! But then I’m like, should I say Porgy or Avianos? Or Mini and Max? Or Grimstone? No, Rail Heist! Fuck it, I’m just going to go back to playing the damn thing.
- Comment on 2hot2handle 2 weeks ago:
Pretty sure it’s a reaction without any external energy input, which this is, but again, I’m no astronaut.
- Comment on Is it? 2 weeks ago:
That’s how basically all our fruits started. Do you think some ancient person just stumbled across a watermelon one day? Fuck no. They found something as disgusting as olives, decided it was good enough, then hundreds of years of selective breeding happened.
Have you ever seen a wild banana? It’s bullshit. You’d peel it open and that’s what you’d say: “This is bullshit.”
Meanwhile olives have been cultivated for olive oil for thousands of years, so that’s probably why people kept growing them in their bitter form.
- Comment on 2hot2handle 2 weeks ago:
Yes, it’s misused sometimes. And it sounds like you agree that sometimes it’s the right word for the situation.
If a man inaccurately and smugly trying to correct a female astronaut, punctuating it with “Simple thermo”, isn’t the right time to use “mansplaining”, then when would be?
- Comment on 2hot2handle 2 weeks ago:
I’m pretty sure he didn’t make a fair point. I haven’t taken any thermodynamics classes, but I think the word “spontaneous” means something more specific in this context and is technically accurate.
He’s trying to one up her by using the common definition.
So he’s wrong on multiple levels here, and there’s no reason to pick apart the meaningless social media post accusing him of mansplaining.
- Comment on 2hot2handle 2 weeks ago:
Sometimes people are being sexist. Mansplaining is a real thing that happens. You may not see the need for the word because you personally don’t need it, but maybe you can understand that there a lot of people who do need it?
- Comment on Best Co-Op Games? 2 weeks ago:
I have three recommendations.
Split Fiction is a master class in game design. The split screen is so integrated into the experience that even online multiplayer is in split screen. The screens are a part of the story.
The gameplay is constantly changing to the point that discovering new mechanics becomes the gameplay loop.
The level designs are so clever that you’ll have several moments that feel scripted but were actually just inevitable because of how we play games.
To give a snapshot of the experience: there was one scene where my character was driving a motorcycle along the sides of skyscrapers, doing the craziest stunts imaginable, and my wife’s character was sitting on the back frantically trying to solve a series of CAPTCHAs on her phone. She was so focused on keeping a steady hand that she barely noticed the death-defying stunts happening literally out of the corner of her eye.
By the end of it I was like, “Did you see that??” and it turns out she did not. It’s absurd and hilarious, and it’s the kind of storytelling that only works in a video game.
My current obsession is UFO 50, which is a collection of 50 “retro” games. In real life they’re all new, but the story of the game is that they’re from a company from the 80s called UFOsoft, and then there’s a dark meta narrative hidden in the background.
Which is all just a framing device for 50 games, most of which are good, some of which are amazing, and half of which are couch co-op multiplayer. It’s like exploring the Switch’s retro NES collection for hidden gems, except there’s a lot more gems.
There are beat 'em ups, obscure sports games, some platformers, tactics games, a little bit of everything.
I’ve enlisted my wife to help me, because a lot of these games are just begging to be grinded out in co-op.
I got the game when I saw someone describe it as “a master class in game design”, and I thought, “that’s the phrase I’ve just been using to describe Split Fiction.”
And finally, I recommend Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, because that’s the multiplayer game I’ve been recommending for almost ten years.
You each play as adorable creatures in an adorable space ship that you customize as you go. The ship has several stations that need to be manned, including the captain’s seat, navigation, a directional shield, and multiple weapons.
But you each can only man one station at a time. So if you need to stay on the shield but a new enemy is approaching from the other side, then that means the captain is going to have to jump on a weapon and leave the ship adrift.
You may have arguments over which type of weapons to add to your ship or over who’s better at piloting which kind of engine. Or maybe you’ll work together in perfect harmony, relying on each other’s strengths and covering each other’s weaknesses as you adapt to every new challenge. Both ways are fun.
- Comment on Disco Panic! 2 weeks ago:
I’ve never heard of a disco clam before, but it makes sense if you think about Sam Clam’s Disco.
- Comment on The average age of Disney princesses is 505y. 3 weeks ago:
Esmeralda from Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Jane from Tarzan.
- Comment on Has cancel culture gone too far? 4 weeks ago:
Depends where you are. Louisiana? Still pretty good. Houston? They changed their suppliers years ago so now instead of getting tenders they just get gristle. 100% gristle. Totally unchewable.
Layne’s is better. Same concept, but executed well.
- Comment on Anyone else guilty of this? 4 weeks ago:
I assumed my kids would love games, but they’re just not that interested. I got my six-year-old obsessing over one of the UFO 50 games, at least until she couldn’t progress any further, but for the most part toys are just way more exciting.
- Comment on Why is the abusive parent always portrayed as being the father, why is the mother never portrayed as abusive? 4 weeks ago:
Tangled
- Comment on 100% vegetarian 4 weeks ago:
It wouldn’t shut up about it.
- Comment on I could use some serious advice as to whether or not to do this 4 weeks ago:
I’d clear it with the couple. It’s their day.
- Comment on YSK that despite being outside of US jurisdiction, Lego has dropped diversity and inclusion terminology from its annual report 5 weeks ago:
The high cost is an issue, but I don’t know what you’re talking about with declining quality. It’s still fantastic quality.
- Comment on YSK that despite being outside of US jurisdiction, Lego has dropped diversity and inclusion terminology from its annual report 5 weeks ago:
The plastic used to make Lego is a byproduct of fossil fuels. It won’t stop being added to the environment until we get off of fossil fuels. It’s not like Lego is digging up oil just to make toys.
They’re also actively searching for renewable plastic alternatives. Like, it’s a huge initiative for them.
In the meantime they just recently started a recycling program where they buy back old bricks, with the stated purpose being their concern for what happens to the plastic when it’s no longer being used.
If you’re looking for a toy company that’s conscientious about their impact on the environment, you’d have a hard time finding better than Lego.
- Comment on YSK that despite being outside of US jurisdiction, Lego has dropped diversity and inclusion terminology from its annual report 5 weeks ago:
This isn’t a great look, but calling Lego “evil” is a bit of a stretch. This was one report that has no bearing on how they run their company or how they interact with their customers.
They still support and promote diversity in their products, which is where it matters.
- Comment on Have you encountered this? 5 weeks ago:
I like tipping. The service is better, and servers are paid more than they would be without it.
- Comment on Have you encountered this? 5 weeks ago:
I like prompt refills. I’m happy to tip for that.
- Comment on what are in you're top 3 favourite games of all time? 5 weeks ago:
Phantasy Star Online: Episodes I & II
What the hell was it about that game? There was just something addictive. I barely even played it online, but I could just sink hours into it.