TommySalami

Beast Wars is my GOAT Transformer series. I figured it was nostalgia, but I rewatched during the pandemic and it honestly held up better than I remember. Even the weird early digital animation is impressive in context. So many interesting characters and motivations, too. And the sweetest extra on top is Megatron’s dialogue. Yeeeeess!

I prefer 2 to 1, primarily because the choices are not as blatantly good/evil and it feels like they have more impact. I also think the character creation and items are more fleshed out. Just a shame it didn’t get the polish it deserved at launch. 1 definitely feels more “Star Wars”-y, though.

Friendly reminder that you don’t need to buy WotC/Hasbro products to play 5e. The 5e publishing ecosystem is pretty strong and there are lots of options so that you don’t have to get rid of your old books. Level Up Advanced 5e has free PDFs online of their whole books, but the books are fantastic quality. Tales of the Valiant is coming soon, and there is a huge catalog of Kobold Press content before that. And then there are hundreds of smaller presses that also support the ruleset. I haven’t gotten any WotC products in years even before the OGL, mainly because quality seemed to be taking a turn, but there is still great content out there.

I like it, because it can also work as a conspiracy. The initial quest giver can be an evil lieutenant posing as an ally. The loop can be hinted at by clues in the dungeons themselves. Maybe there are errors left behind that hint at a dungeon/s they’ve already finished. I could see a lot of ways to mess with the PCs.

You are absolutely correct. My partner and I got Pixel 6s on a huge discount from Best Buy when it was time to upgrade.

Not Australian, but looking through the proposal, it seemed pretty basic. It’s pretty sad that even a relatively toothless measure like this couldn’t pass. Though I’m definitely not throwing stones, I’m in America.

A damn shame. KOTOR 1 & 2 are still, IMHO, one of the greatest Star Wars stories/experiences. I’d really love for something to revisit the time period.

“Reset the board!” 14 0 days since a classified document leak

Only? The US accounts for 40% of all military spending in the world. We are at nearly 3 times second place, China, $876 billion to $290 billion. Considering the US has the most billionaires and compilation of billionaire wealth, I really don’t think GDP is the great earmark you are portraying it as.

Definitely see what you saying. Some yellow flags in there, but it ultimately seems supportive of progressive, ethical moves by government. Demos seems to be very focused on this issue. As a Michigander, Big Gretch has been doing a great job and I’m really happy to see the state put its money where its mouth is.

No worries! I’m a big fan of FROM and you are absolutely right, they just aren’t for everyone. I honestly wish more people would see that a game can be good but you don’t have to enjoy it. That’s me and a lot of strategy games like Crusader Kings.

I’m not going to hunt down formal sources for these, because they’ve been pretty widely reported on, especially back during the 2022 election. We know COVID disproportionately affected older, conservative communities. In less populated, more rural areas, even a few dozen more deaths could affect outcomes. We know youth turnout was higher than in previous years, and certain Republicans’ push to raise the voter age is a reaction to that. Biden is still challenging SCOTUS about student loans and is currently working on getting Medicare pricing for lots of medications. I’m from Michigan, and our state government has recently passed a lot of progressive policies, same for my local city and many of the cities near me. So there may be some bias there, but there have also been a lot of public success in Minnesota and Hawaii. And Jim Inhofe just retired, and between McConnell’s freeze and Feinstein rambling during a vote, it’s clear these elderly reps are having health issues. They can’t live forever.

I empathize with what you are saying, but the red wave didn’t happen because a bunch of Republicans died from COVID and youth voters mobilized in big numbers. The best solution I see is, as someone else said, changing our voting system to ranked choice. It will create more freedom of choice, parties will have to develop stronger platforms, and it will be easier to stomp out fascists. And Biden has made some moves to help progressive causes, and there has been a lot of success on local and state levels. Even if that isn’t satisfactory, the old guard is shuffling off slowly but surely. It is a miscarriage of democracy that Diane Feinstein still has a seat, and the politicing over filling her space is doubly shameful. I would certainly hope that establishment Dems know how fragile their voter coalition is, especially after losing Roe after decades of doing nothing to codify it. As much as it is fuck around/find out time for the GOP, it’s put up or shut up time for Dems.

I hope you are right. More end-user freedom is a good thing and, if it is a matter of turning the tide, I’d love to see more tech companies competing to be the most accessible for repairs.

I wish every major city had one, or even if other theaters that try to be classy adopted their policies. Alamo is head and shoulders above any movie theater competition in my opinion, even before taking into account the meal service.

Wow, I’m not familiar with the series outside of Vaati’s videos, but this seems even darker than past entries. I don’t want everything to be like that, but it’s a thematic tone I trust FROM with. Very stoked.

I agree, but there is definitely a limit to the degree of frivolous side quests. I’m playing TotK here and there, and some of the quests/objectives are basically punishment. I liked the koroks in BotW, but a lot of the new ones can fuck right off.

I’m not mad about it since I think it is the nature of being a fan, but I don’t think Star Wars is really for me anymore. I never saw CWs or Rebels, and I don’t really have any inclination to, but it seems that someone needs to consume all SW media to enjoy the new stuff. Eh, but what do I know? I liked TLJ. I hope Ahsoka is good for those that enjoy it.

Just more enshittification. Glad I cancelled last month, you don’t get to tell me who is or who isn’t in my household.