The chunky, thundering sound of the ID logo smashing into the screen when starting up Quake 3 Arena. So many LAN parties…

…why not just use the CC on Amazon?

I think it’s because people think giving pure cash is thoughtless and basic.

This idea needs to die. I’d rather have $10 cash that I can stash away to save up for something that I actually want than a $25 gift card that locks me in to a single store.

I’m at a stage in my life where I can generally buy little things when I want to. But my wife and I don’t make enough to regularly drop hundreds or thousands of dollars on non-essentials, and my other family members can’t do more than $25 or maybe $50 for birthdays or Christmas.

It took me years to convince my parents and wife to just give me cash. When I finally did, it enabled me to save up for a $1k guitar over several years.

I’d much rather have one awesome gift every 5 years than a steady stream of $35 gift certificates to various stores and restaurants.

Not giving someone what they’re actually asking for is far less thoughtful than cash.

I got a Dunkin Donuts card a few years ago too. The nearest location to me is about 600 miles away. Awesome.

I see you’re prepared to take a whole bus load of people to Morganville. Nice

scythed

Nice to see a new verb used in a headline.

Embedded software developer here.

Oh damn, I thought I was going to be the only one here!

I don’t know how you get by with only one. Between source code, simulators/emulators, datasheets, requirement specs, log files, e-mails from senior devs with tribal knowledge not written down anywhere else, and a bunch of other bullshit, I sometimes find 3 24" monitors to be lacking.

Distractions aren’t a problem because I can easily use up all that screen real estate for a single task.

From the hovertext: “I wrote 20 short programs in Python yesterday. It was wonderful. Perl, I’m leaving you.”

After years of a dozen other languages, I finally tried Perl the other day.

Never again, if I can help it.

If you read the fine print, many “lifetime” warranties are like this too. They mean the “lifetime of the product” which is usually defined in the same fine print as like, 5 years or some other bullshit timespan.

Nice work!

Without formal a formal education program, finding the right subset of a new skill or hobby is probably the best way to hook yourself in so it’s easier to keep at it long enough to really start learning. It sounds like concepts are finally sticking for you because you have an immediate and fun application for them.

I hope more people continue to find unconventional paths into the field like you did, keep going with it.

The difference between fault and responsibilty is definitely something I plan to teach my kids from an early age.

If someone rear ends me when I’m driving safely and following all the rules of the road, it’s not my fault. But it’s still my responsibility to get insurance information, arrange for car repair and transportation, reschedule appointments, etc. I don’t get to just walk away and hope everything takes care of itself.

It’s just one of those unfortunate facts of life. Everyone has to handle things that aren’t their fault sometimes.

hit back

Complaining on twitter isn’t hitting anyone. A financial impact is the only thing that will drive change.

Some people have so little going for them that winning imaginary gun battles is the only thing that makes them feel powerful. But they’re not even good enough at the game to do it on their own, so they cheat and trick themselves into feeling good about it.

Jank was the style at the time.

Tekken has a story? I didn’t need to know why a man with leopard head is fighting a metallic samurai elf thirty years ago, and I don’t need to know now.

Thanks for the insight - jump humping and soaking sound like the kind of bullshit my parents would believe because it was featured in some local news story.

Most “teen trends”, especially those related to sex, are just wildly blown out of proportion “stories” based on a couple of people trying something weird, someone else hearing about it, and now suddenly all the teens are doing it.

It reminds me of being in high school when my mom asked me if my girlfriend’s jelly bracelets were a sex thing because she heard about girls owing sex acts to guys who can break one.

If you don’t mind old shitty graphics and mechanics, start with the original Deus Ex. I played it when it first came out and it blew my little stupid mind. I still replay it once every couple of years. It really taught me what an art video games can be, which was totally new to me after growing up on Wolfenstein and Doom.

I’ve heard BL described as a “looter shooter”, but found that I can mostly ignore the loot aspect. Like OP, I’m not a fan of grinding for special drops, managing a shitload of inventory items, or memorizing loot stats. I just play through the games, occasionally checking drops for something better than what I have, and moving right along. It never felt like a burden to me because I didn’t care about having the “best” gear.

If you’re into FPS games, here are a few suggestions that have RPG elements:

• Deus Ex
• Borderlands
• Bioshock
• FarCry (#3 and after have progression elements, not so much for earlier entries)

I can’t find much more context, but I think you have the online part backwards. No more updates for FC6, but online services will continue running for now, so multiplayer is still available.