Best posts made by Ganymede

@auspice said in RL things I love:

There have been incredibly clear violations of privacy.

Have there?

We should probably more this to a Politics topic, but, as a short note: (1) you only have a reasonable expectation of privacy as it pertains to government intrusion; (2) to the best of my knowledge there is no federal statute authorizing a private cause of action for intrusion upon seclusion, aka invasion of privacy; (3) not all states have created such a private cause of action by statute or recognized such by common law; and (4), even if all states had done so, the federal government has no business in getting involved with what may be best considered a state-authorized private cause of action.

I understand why we are having the hearings, but don't leap to the conclusion that Facebook has done anything unlawful.

There. I made a topic for you.

@rucket said in General Video Game Thread:

Paradox clearly cares about the direction of the IP, lol.

If they did, they would have actually re-published V:TES rather than handing it off to a small-time publisher whose reach is about the same as my partner's when I'm already sitting down enjoying a movie because, hey, who can be bothered to go and get shit when you have a perfectly reasonable servant lounging around to do the work you are perfectly capable of doing argh why the fuck do people marry.

A high school friend of mine has published a book on fairy tales in the media and cultures around the world. I think it is a fascinating compendium, even if it is very pricey.

I mean, just have a look at the cover.

https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Companion-to-Media-and-Fairy-Tale-Cultures/Greenhill-Terry-Rudy-Hamer-Bosc/p/book/9781138946156

Looks awesome. I'm going to get myself a copy once I pay off these new tires I'm getting this weekend.

@derp

@flyrannosaurus

I will give you GoW and Forza. Those are all great, even if I've no reason to play them.

I'm not sure I've noticed any improvement in LinkedIn, honestly, and I don't use or care about GitHub, Mojang, or Nuance. Since Activision / Blizzard is a gaming company, though, I'd like to stay there.

I mean, what has Microsoft done for Bethesda? It's still clinging to Skyrim and ESO. It totally fucked up the Fallout Series, and the changes to FO76 have done little to bring back the fan-base.

Maybe I'm getting too old for this shit. As soon as Activision gave away the rights to the Battletech IP, I lost interest in the company.

@jaded said in Good or New Movies Review:

It was billed as a horror movie. By the amount of people laughing at it, I think our theater thought it was a comedy.

Save your money. Go see A Quiet Place instead. Or Blockers.

@ominous

@arkandel said in General Video Game Thread:

Blizzard's newest post on fixing their culture issues.

As someone who helps prepare press releases now, I can tell you that this is typical non-committal drivel.

Example: We tripled the size of our compliance and investigation teams and have articulated clear accountability for unacceptable behavior. This applies to all employees at Blizzard, including leadership and management.

Here's something to think about:

1. What's three times zero?
2. What are the compensation and qualifications of the compliance and investigation professionals?
3. If a law is well-articulated, does it mean anything if it is never enforced?

And so on.

@thenomain said in HQ!!!!!:

... I'll show myself out.

Saves Arkandel, Auspice, and I the trouble, I guess.

@coin

So? If staff recognizes that problem, why is an ombudsman not a solution?

Not everyone communicates effectively online.

@arkandel

@arkandel said in Good or New Movies Review:

It goes without saying that anyone who spoils Infinity War here... let's just say we'll unleash @Ganymede completely on them.

"For a time, I considered sparing your wretched little planet, Cybertron; but now, you shall witness its dismemberment."

@mietze said in Player Omsbudsman?:

while I think that could work if it was part of a co-headwiz type of arrangement, I think i would be a little leery if resolving complaints and issues was spun off to a single person because the headstaff did not want to be involved.

Does it matter if head staff authorizes that person to take direct action against other staff?

I think players expect that whomever they discuss their grievances with can and will take action that means something.

I can see the perspectives here, and I generally concur with the idea that an ombudsman may be seen as a boondoggle or pointless endeavor to cover for a bigger problem: having staff with the social graces of a block of wood.

@Thenomain said in General Video Game Thread:

The Korra video game is the only one that I've played that is far better on a controller.

Any NHL game ever.

@thenomain said in Good or New Movies Review:

It is frankly impossible to put that many characters in one movie and make it interesting; the various Batman movies keep proving this.

Comparing Batman to the Avengers is folly.

@cobalt said in Birmingham: The Entangled City (BhamMu*):

Other than specific spells how so?

You know folks are going to want to create their own spells. I figured that you'd allow that, with staff approval. And that means that staff's going to be working on balancing what effects a player wants against some standard.

I could be wrong.

@Thenomain said in General Video Game Thread:

Yyyeaaaaahhhhh, but I can't even make it through Witcher 1 for its janky controls—I can't mentally get through it—and its buggy nonsense—the reverend disappeared so I can't get past the starting village. As much as I absolutely adore a good story, I do have standards.

I played it on the PS4. I don't know what problems there were before, but they are gone now.

In fact, I've never played any of the other Witcher games. Ever. I just picked this game up and played the living shit out of it because holy hell is it good. Whereas you arguably need to play ME1 and ME2 to appreciate (or follow) ME3, such is not the case here.

Edited to add:

Also, the Witcher 3's soundtrack is mind-boggling terrific. I loved how they captured the feeling of Eastern Europe -- Poland, especially -- as a sort of homage to the source material's author.

I listen to this soundtrack at work. A lot. It scares people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6FotzVt9Ak

I also use this very often on my character wiki pages. Go figure:

You're obliged to pretend respect for people and institutions you think absurd. You live attached in a cowardly fashion to moral and social conventions you despise, condemn, and know lack all foundation. It is that permanent contradiction between your ideas and desires and all the dead formalities and vain pretenses of your civilization which makes you sad, troubled and unbalanced. In that intolerable conflict you lose all joy of life and all feeling of personality, because at every moment they suppress and restrain and check the free play of your powers. That'€™s the poisoned and mortal wound of the civilized world.

This is a development topic opened to discuss Ares and how it was put together.