Cataphract

joined 2 years ago
[–] Cataphract@lemmy.ml 19 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

back around late 90's early 00's I was pretty lucky to have a group of friends that all just hung around together. Talking like 8 or more of us and it always wound up that 3 of us would have a place together out in the sticks (it changed locations/roommates from year to year but we had a good long 5+ years of everyone being consistently together). We ended up playing basically any tabletop we could get our hands on or pirate (napster/limewire back then) and print off (we still ended up spending 100's a piece though on dice and official releases), we even ended up starting to make our own games that I still think about doing something with to this day. (all just context for how we could pull off some of what I'm about to say)

Getting EVERYONE together was rather difficult at times, people would come into stories and be quickly rotated out if they had to work or weren't available when we were wanting to continue running a story-line (multiple different DM's and storylines from different games going on in concert, still can't fathom how that all worked out looking back). So we all got pretty used to being fluid about it and no one really had any FOMO unless their character was low-level versus everyone else.

At that point it became apparent on my storyline that I was going to have to catch some people up so we started doing 1-on-1 DMing where I would spend a few hours running someone basically on a solo mission that I could tie into the rest of the story and give them something to catch up to everyone else. Sometimes we would do it before a bigger session and people showing up early could sit in or do cameo appearances to help out/etc. People are a lot more comfortable to ask questions and be involved with the story that way and translates well to the group play.

It ended up being a huge success and had some of my favorite interactions. Sometimes we would have a bunch of people over and some wanted to play and some wanted to listen to music and party so it just always felt natural and those involved really wanted to be there for it.

[–] Cataphract@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 month ago

Even with consuming mostly left-leaning media I keep seeing right-wing content hitting my feeds CONSTANTLY. It's so insane that one video has "Destroyed X with this debate" while the next is "X Won debate against crazy rhetoric". I'm not even singling out right wing with this either, everyone is just horrible with the click bait titles and I can see how powerful the bubbles are to expand yourself out of even if you have a desire too.

[–] Cataphract@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 month ago

you think libraries are free?

most public libraries and librarians spend a great deal of their time applying for grants, asking for donations, and parsing out the meager state and federal funds they receive. You can tell that a lot goes on in a public library besides what patrons see!

Did you know that staff salaries, books, other library materials, office supplies, and utilities are funded primarily by city and county taxes? (link)

Taking this chance to say support your local libraries! Even just being a patron will show that it's a necessary resource that needs to continue. My partner and I just were talking about the library today and how we both used to go at least once a week back in the day but we've fallen off in the past decade.

[–] Cataphract@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 month ago (2 children)

but.... you were wrong? There were hundreds of thousands protesting today, very small amount of turmoil. You would be more statistically likely to get hurt playing any type of sports or exercising at this point. Some people aren't safe just "staying home" with ICE and authoritarian raids, make sure your son knows that you're privileged to be able to feel that way.

[–] Cataphract@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

love how you crumple from any push-back on your false narrative.

[–] Cataphract@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 month ago (3 children)

This is the type of Pearl-clutching/fear mongering that lives in a head filled with propaganda. There are already laws in place which cover this type of fake scenario, the article itself dismisses the claims you're trying to make. Find me a valid use-case for this law, there are hundreds of instances where the exact opposite happens and vehicles are used as a weapon to assault protesters but all you got are fictional "what ifs"? Don't drive into a protest..... Use common sense when you see a group of people gathered on the street like any sane person would.

[–] Cataphract@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

This is such an insane and imaginative comment. Are the century old Americans that talk to you in the room with you right now? It's absolutely crazy how you've taken some individual comments or perceived attitudes and created this fantasy land where you now have "owned the dipshits". Let's ignore the assassination attempts, current and planned protests going on through-out the country, people getting arrested for standing up for their fellow citizens, LUIGI!!, the college protests going on for months/years, this is such a selective memory you're touting. This isn't like the UK/Scotland police that just sit there peacefully (5 people were there initially and stopped their immigration enforcement per the article). Yet still we have hundreds and thousands of people still showing up and continuing to fight while you whine and complain online.

Holy shit, your entire engagement in this site is just comments about American "cowards". Why haven't you tried to immigrate and show Americans how it's really done since you're such a mister big boy bad ass? You seem to care enough to removed about it everyday but not do anything about it?

[–] Cataphract@lemmy.ml -3 points 1 month ago (2 children)

"What you presented does nothing to substantiate or refute"

There is nothing in the TOS that requires you to submit to a rootkit

We also may use internal and third-party anti-cheat technologies

prepare to be even more profoundly jealous because I'm profoundly dumbfounded at this point.

[–] Cataphract@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 month ago (5 children)

"What is Habeas Corpus?" joking, but I guess my minds been so fractured from this administration it doesn't even consider the constitutional protections America has.

It does make me wonder about the presidential line of succession though. The Speaker of the house is 3rd in line, they could all get together tomorrow and vote him in.

The Constitution does not explicitly require the speaker to be an incumbent member of the House of Representatives... permitting a non-member to serve as Speaker would effectively exempt Speakers from the eligibility requirements of the House Qualifications Clause of Article I, Section II and from being bound by an oath of office under the Oath or Affirmation Clause of Article VI as opposed to House members. (link)

Would be fascinating to see how something like that would play out, scary, but still fascinating in a historical precedence kinda way.

[–] Cataphract@lemmy.ml 12 points 1 month ago (14 children)

I'm calling it now so I can link to it in 3 years, Musk is wanting to make a presidential run.

like @peoplebeproblems@midwest.social said, this show has a purpose and I think Trump is planning on going even harder and now they have someone they can pass the torch off to since they've already vetted his ideology and love his money. Gotta distance yourself at some point so you can swing in and be the "savior". He can lay the whole DOGE think on the current administration getting in the way and will totally be a conservative this time. The comments and rhetoric around Elon are already starting to be softer now that he's in this feud with Trump.

 

I wanted to share and highlight this video for others to see. This is such a thorough and amazing resource for the dev team at Frost Giant (the makers of Stormgate) that I hope they have seen. The breakdown and walk-through of the different elements of the game was such an amazing thing to watch.

I found myself sitting there watching for hours, this is exactly what game companies need in terms of experienced game tester leads that can articulate and explain everything going on in the game from the perspective of an average player. I think if every game company had someone of this caliber, to sit down with them and go over the basic mechanics of the games, we would all be a lot better off. I felt like I was sitting in on a company meeting while an outside contractor was going over his notes with the developers and trying to understand their vision while giving his unique and experienced position.

I'm definitely more excited about the game than I was previously after watching this video (as confusing as that might seem). It shows a clear path of how to fix and enhance the gameplay which has a chance to come into fruition with the game still in the testing phase.

 

I ran into an old movie I had on VHS as a kid titled "MegaForce" (1982) (RT link). I hadn't seen the movie in decades and was worried looking at a rotten tomato score of 6% that if I watched it, I would be completely disappointed in the movie as an adult. Surprisingly, I didn't realize as a kid that it was actually more of a spoof comedy action movie like a knock-off "Hot Shots" or "Naked Gun" and just completely enjoyed watching it again because it felt like a whole new experience (definitely better than the new G.I. Joe's lol).

So what's your movie from your past that you'll always enjoy no matter how cheesy or horrible it may seem?

 

I've been seeing more often (and others have posted the same) that some of the elements of "Reddit etiquette" seem to be taking over here. Luckily I can still find discussion comments but it seems the jokes and general "downvote because I disagree" are slowly taking over.

So the question becomes is it the size or the functionality of the site? The people or popularity? What's your thoughts?

edit: should I change it to Lemmy-hivemind? Exhibit A: the amount of downvotes without a single explanation (guessing it's anything to do with Reddit being talked about).

 

Rather peeved about all of this. Been waiting for this game for ages and was excited about the F2P aspect then found out a lot of elements of the game are locked behind paywalls making the full game costing way over most AAA games. Ok, lets roll on anyways and see what the game has to offer. Then I get to the privacy policy and realize they're using anti-cheat services to monitor your game, I continued reading the user agreement and then had to find their actual privacy policy page because they have it listed under a different url then what they have posted. Some Highlights from the user agreement:

You may not host, provide or develop matchmaking services for the Product, or intercept, emulate or redirect the communication protocols used by Frost Giant in any way, for any purpose, including without limitation unauthorized play over the internet, network play (except as expressly authorized by Frost Giant), or as part of content aggregation networks.

You may not organize, promote or participate in an esports competition for the Product which has not been licensed by Frost Giant.

You may not play on another user's Account

In order to safeguard its licensing rights, when you are using the Product, Frost Giant may monitor your hardware random access memory (RAM)

You understand that the mere presence of unauthorized cheat software on your device, whether or not you use that unauthorized software while playing the Game, may result in Frost Giant exercising its full rights under this Agreement.

Acknowledgments. You acknowledge that:

  • The Game which is the object of the Alpha or Beta Test is a work in progress and may contain bugs which may cause loss of data and/or damage to your computer system;
  • You have, or will, back-up your hard drive prior to installation of the Beta;
  • You have the resources necessary to easily reinstall the operating system for the computer system that you will use to take part in the Alpha or Beta Test as well as to restore any and all data that may be lost;

It just goes on and on with some really sketchy stuff, then I get to the privacy policy:

Your contact information/identifiers, such as your name, your gamer id, mailing address, email address, employer, primary language, country, social media credentials. preferred games and date of birth. If you contact us by telephone, we will also retain your telephone number.

Your geolocation data, if your device settings allow us to collect such information.

Your account preference information, such as your contact, communication and marketing preferences.

Your device and browsing information, including non-personally identifiable information about your phone, tablet, computer or device and online browsing activity, which may be automatically collected. This may include IP addresses, unique identifiers, cookie identifiers, browser language, device and browser settings and broad location-based information, and internet service provider information. It may also include information about when and how you accessed and used our Sites, how you navigated to our Sites (such as the date and time of your visit), the links you clicked, the websites you visited before and after our Sites, and what you searched for while on our Sites.

Analytics & Interest-Based Ads. We partner with third parties (like sponsors, content providers, and analytics companies) to help us improve our Services and better understand how you interact with them, as well as to support our marketing initiatives and ad campaigns. These companies may collect info from you automatically in connection with your visit.

And the really scary part

In particular, we have collected the following categories of personal information from consumers within the last twelve (12) months:

  • A real name, alias, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address, account name, Social Security number, driver's license number, passport number, or other similar identifiers.
  • A name, signature, Social Security number, physical characteristics or description, address, telephone number, passport number, driver's license or state identification card number, insurance policy number, education, employment, employment history, bank account number, credit card number, debit card number, or any other financial information, medical information, or health insurance information.
  • Records of personal property, products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies.
  • Browsing history, search history, information on a consumer's interaction with a website, application, or advertisement.
  • Physical location or movements.

Third party service providers. - From time to time, Frost Giant may need to transmit your personal data to vendors or service providers that enable us to market, sell, or deliver our services. These service providers may require certain personal information in order to perform specific services on our behalf, such as cloud service and data storage, beta testing, tech support to enhance game operations, chat, customer support, social login, fulfillment and shipping, email and newsletter delivery, conducting surveys, payment processing, tournament operation, anti-cheat and fraud prevention, web hosting or web analytics. Such partners include:

Steam
Epic Online Services
RallyCry
Hathora
Brevo
Eventbrite
AWS
Sentry.io 
Google
Easy Anti-Cheat 
GGWP
Untapped
Kakao Games
ModSquad

I've stopped playing previous games that use these tactics and programs because there's just too many other games that don't require these that are available. This was a game I was hoping to get back into with some RTS friends I've made along the way, Is this just the way of the world or something to avoid?

 

Sorry for the vague question but I'm hoping there's a lot I"m missing. I know I can edit the side bar, icon, and banner. Make the community public or private and there's a "mod posting only" option. But is that it?

Some things I'm wondering about,

  • can I turn downvotes off or is that an instance only thing? (fan community, off topic would just be removed)
  • Is there any other way to manipulate the community page like backgrounds etc?
  • Flair's or post tags? Any community settings I looked over?
  • Allowing or disallowing bots (again is this an instance thing?)

I'm fine with what it is, just wanted to make sure there wasn't more I was missing with my options in the community.

Bonus question, besides crossposting and the "new communities" community sections, is there anything else I should do with a fresh community?

 

Currently remodeling a domicile, with the sweet and expensive ability to add anything I want within reason. I plan on modernizing the place to bring it into the 21st century because this house deserves it (just a great structure with lots of history and nearing it's centennial birthday).

Luckily, everything is built perfectly for access so nothing is off the table. I came onto this property with my own server "rack" and a mini diy setup for network debauchery, but plan on expanding that and installing a mini-server "room" (a fancy closet I might install in a "dead space" that I can pipe duct work in and out of).

I will be running all new electrical, A/C, Telecom lines, the whole works. I'm currently in the process of ripping out all the old coaxial, phone, piping, anything not ran properly or of a modern importance (probably reinstall phone and doorbell circuits but they're currently strewn everywhere from previous installers). I'm also creating up to date blueprints for the structure and including mechanical systems/engineering schematics for anything I'm doing or plan to do. All of this will be saved to a USB for the next owner and printed out for a laminated notebook to stay with the house (maybe a copy for myself for the nostalgia one day).

The only 2 things I KNOW I want to do is installing

  • a monitor with a pi that will run a weather and local data program that I've been working on into the kitchen area

  • a multi-camera cctv system (local and offsite backup) with a monitor in a neutral-shared living area.

I will probably leave those parts of the system installed here unless it's requested to be removed. I actually would love to leave everything here as a full system package for someone to "inherit" with the house but I'm not sure if that's a benefit or a hindrance someone wants to receive.

There's 3 different plans in the works (3/5/10 year plans, we are here for family but that will eventually not be required and we desperately want out of this area), depending on the time frame I might need to put in

  • monitoring stations for renewable energy systems (solar/wind),

  • a personalized-home weather monitoring system (barometric,temp,humidity) with a display and functionality to control the mechanical systems (A/C adjustment, daylight sensors for shades/lighting, etc),

and a bunch of other off the wall ideas I've been wanting to tinker with. Unfortunately most videos out there of "home setups" include someone with 10x my price bracket and their system is designed for themselves and their specific equipment in mind. I'm wanting to install something more generic that anyone would have use for (like weather and security). There are really only 2 "office areas" that I think would require a hardline besides any monitors I have to install for systems (I don't mind running wiring, but I don't think every room needs an ethernet port to be functional, or am I wrong thinking this way?). I will probably need to install repeaters in two locations though to cover the entire property in wifi because old houses gobble signals up but inside everything "just" reaches.

Everything I've done with my network so far I've gotten around needing a switch (it would've saved me a lot of hassle in the past but I usually find a way to get everything connected or just disconnect unused equipment that's ran it's course), but at this point I can't expand any further without a headache. So now I'm looking at new tech and equipment I don't have hands-on experience with and don't know it's proper use/limitations which I don't like when making action plans. I figured just trying to get a general sense of what people want or see would be a better angle to come at since I don't do this professionally and don't have the insider knowledge of the taboos of home networking infrastructure.

TLDR: What kind of wiring, connection setups are important to you and won't be obsolete after a few years? What do you consider a "modern" house to have or are decent "quality of life" improvements like lighting control, sensors, etc? What's your best case scenario of equipment when walking into a house and seeing a pre-installed setup?

edit: I'm not sure why but for some reason I'm not seeing everyone's comments (assuming de-federated instances from .ml but seeing it since I posted on .world), if I don't respond I apologize and will probably look for a new instance if this is the case.

view more: ‹ prev next ›