@mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org
@mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

mattontech

@mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org

Freelance technology journalist. Bylines on IEEE Spectrum, PC World, Reviewed, Wired, Ars Technica, IGN, and so on.

Retro computer gaming videos on YouTube at Computer Gaming Yesterday.

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mattontech, to random
@mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

I've been throughly enjoying Homeworld 3's campaign.

I am half way through the campaign, and it's a beautiful experience. Often literally—it's extremely clear the artists at Blackbird put a lot of thought into exactly what you see when you first warp into the mission. It's gorgeous.

The story is also quite good so far. I like the protagonist and her side-kick, "Intel," (lol) and I'm excited to see what happens next.

mattontech,
@mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

@Imperor Yea, I'm having a blast with it. It's a ton of fun, and in particular, BBI has solved many annoying UI issues in original Homeworld 1/2 and even the remasters. It's easier to order units and to move the camera than before.

I suspect that the gameplay is not that deep compared to, say, Starcraft II. I expect to finish the campaign, play some skirmishes, and then be done with it. But with that said, I have not tried the roguelite "Wargames" mode at all yet. So, maybe I'm wrong.

veronica, to gaming
@veronica@mastodon.online avatar

So, I started playing World of Warcraft again this weekend ... 😁

I've been playing it on and off since just after its European release in 2005. My oldest characters have reached legal drinking age. 😅

I stopped playing in 2021 as I really disliked the Shadowlands expansion. The one before was excellent, and I'm now playing Dragonflight from 2022, which also seems good so far. There is a new one coming after the summer or thereabouts. We'll see how long I last this time!

mattontech,
@mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

@veronica @jotho lol don’t let the grump get you down. Playing a game isn’t pointless if you enjoy it, now is it? And the new WoW expac looks great.

mattontech, to fallout
@mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

The Fallout show is so good, it’s honestly kind of absurd.

It struck just the right tone, the sets and props are amazing, the direction is superb, the characters well written, and the actors do great stuff with the material.

Can’t wait for season 2.

mattontech, to ai
@mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

some of the recent AI model releases are just like, whew, this train ain't slowing down is it

mattontech,
@mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

@kellogh There’s been some pretty notable improvements in the big models, especially in eras of context windows. These are very useful improvements.

But what’s raising my eyebrow is the leap from Llama 2 to Llama 3 and Microsoft’s Phi-3, which are really moving things forward on small models. There is no paper on Llama 3 yet, but volume and quality of training data seems key. That would seem to imply good things for GPT 5 as well, though that of course is just speculation.

mattontech, to internet
@mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

There's a new book going around that supposedly draws links between social media and a variety of issues with mental health. Apparently, it's #1 on Amazon right now.

So, it's probably worth knowing it is nonsense, as the author cherry picks data and disregards points that would run contrary to the narrative, even when those points are made by people who wrote papers cited in the book.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-coddling-of-the-american-parent?ref=author

mattontech, to fallout
@mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

sigh... guess I have to play the whole Fallout series again

mattontech, to space
@mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

Apparently the sun is going to cook the Earth in 500 million years. Sooner than I thought.

But no worries, we can just throw asteroids at Jupiter…

Pretty fun stuff.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/04/a-survival-guide-for-the-end-of-the-solar-system/

tashasounart, to FFXIV
@tashasounart@worldkey.io avatar

On the benchmark, My husband got "High" with a bunch of people cheering, I got "Fairly High" with less people just clapping (funny). I wonder what you get with "Low"? Your character standing there looking sad?

mattontech,
@mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

@tashasounart yes actually, that's exactly what happens

mattontech, to gaming
@mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

Yes. Please stop killing games. Give them to the players. After all they paid for them. https://www.stopkillinggames.com

mattontech, to Polytopia
@mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

Played my first real game of Sins of a Solar Empire II last night, and it’s quite good!

Much like the original but with some important gameplay tweaks. And I still appreciate Sins’ unique no-nonsense take on the 4x genre.

mattontech, to random
@mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

Went by this used electronics store in Portland today, and definitely worth a look if you like used / retro electronics. It doesn't look like it's a store from the outside, but it is! https://oregonrecycles.com/ pdx

mattontech, to Diablo4
@mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

This is fine but it doesn't solve my core issue with Diablo 4, which is that leveling a character to the "endgame" is an utterly pointless chore.

#diablo4

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/diablo-4-season-4-changes/

mattontech, to Unreal
@mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

This was inevitable given how widely Unreal is used in so much of video production. The good news is it only applies to companies with revenue above one million, so most creators can continue to rely on Unreal without paying up.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/12/24098279/epic-unreal-engine-pricing-plan-non-game-developers-twinmotion-realitycapture

mattontech, to vr
@mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

What does "privacy" mean when you have half a dozen cameras or sensors strapped to your face?

It's a tough question, and one that honestly, is just starting to be understood. I spoke with privacy experts Maritza Johnson and Mike Godwin for their perspective on whether we can trust tech companies with the data AR/VR headsets like the Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest suck in.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/apple-vision-pro-privacy

mattontech, to llm
@mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

Playing NetHack with LLMs: Potential & Limitations as Zero-Shot Agents

LLM vs. a game from 1987? Well, the LLM does not fair too well. Though this is a very limited experiment on the whole.

Still fun to see how it can navigate menus (sort of) on its own.

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2403.00690.pdf

mattontech, to random
@mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

A teenager riding an e-bike was struck and killed by someone driving a van in Bend, Oregon.

So, the Oregon House has decided to...make it illegal for teens to ride that particular kind of e-bike...?

Real car brain thinking here.

https://www.opb.org/article/2024/02/28/oregon-house-passes-ebike-law-after-bend-teens-death/

mattontech, to mastodon
@mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

Mastodon's active user count has never reached the peak it did after Musk bought Twitter...

...seems like it's in a rut now. Can anything give it another leg up?

https://mastodon-analytics.com

mattontech, to OpenAI
@mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

You’ve probably heard about The New York Times lawsuit against OpenAI. But the details are impressive: The NY Times provided 100 exhibits of ChatGPT completing articles almost word for word, and the suit seeks the deletion of all GPT models.

Could it succeed, and what would be the consequences? I spoke with general counsel Cecilia Ziniti and Techdirt editor @mmasnick about its chances.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/chatgpt-new-york-times

ceoln, to wow
@ceoln@qoto.org avatar

You call it The World Tree, I call it a menace to aerial navigation!

mattontech,
@mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

@ceoln I would play the World of Warcraft mod for Flight Simulator

damianogerli, to random
@damianogerli@mastodon.social avatar

This whole discourse on X on "paying content creators for content is bad and unethical" seems to miss the point that often these creators don't really make reviews but, well, content.
Sure, one might think "why should I trust the opinion of someone who is being paid", but trust is really what makes the audience come back to the creators again and again.
That mutual trust relationship is what most often is lost in the discussion on "unethical reviews".

mattontech,
@mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

@damianogerli I’m glad I’m missing this discourse lol

jynersolives, to Starfield
@jynersolives@mastodon.social avatar

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    mattontech,
    @mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

    @jynersolives I think it’s great. I’ve always felt the need to roll a new character when DLC came out in prior Bethesda games because it just felt odd to go do some sidequest after saving the world.

    massivelyop, to MMO
    @massivelyop@mastodon.social avatar

    Raph Koster has been warning about the death of games innovation longer than most MMOs have been alive
    🔗 https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/10/raph-koster-has-been-warning-about-the-death-of-games-innovation-longer-than-most-mmos-have-been-alive

    mattontech,
    @mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

    @massivelyop if a developer has been warning about the death of innovation for as long as the existence of the genre, which has continued to thrive and has seen the release of literally dozens (hundreds?) of new titles...I think it's time for them to step back and rethink if the problem is the genre or their perspective

    this applies to bitter MMO fans, too, btw

    mattontech,
    @mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

    @Bogusmeatfactory @massivelyop I don't know how anyone can look at MMORPGs today and say they lack innovation compared to what came before.

    When I started playing in 1999 there were three popular reasonable choices. Grind skills in UO. Grind levels in EQ. Grind skills AND levels in AC.

    Today I have the option to do the following: experience a great story, go deep into crafting or skilling, raid content, dungeon content, small-scale PvP, large scale PvP, world exploration, and more

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