I'd like to recommend Old Man's War, which is the first book in a sci-fi series. I read the first 3 books in the series basically back to back within 2 months and really enjoyed them. I'm in a similar spot as you and I'm getting back into reading after not reading much for the past few years and these got me back into the habit.
Not sci-fi, but anything in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett is also a good (and usually easy) read.
I check in here quite often, but for now, I'm just focusing on clearing spam and keeping the instance alive. In January, I was working on the AP module, and there has been significant progress in the work, which hasn't been publicly published yet. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the year, I developed a skin condition that...
I don't mind waiting for things to be fixed what with life interfering with things, but I can't find any activity from Ernest lately. He hasn't been, like... hit by a bus or anything terrible like that, has he?
I'm not super active on kbin, but I've never seen anything from Pug to suggest they're a bad person. On the contrary, they're probably one of my favorite posters on here, at least in terms of the content they bring. I also respect anyone here who actually posts content and engages in conversations. It's more than most (myself included!) can say.
I'll never stop complaining that in the second movie Dooku tells Obi-Wan that the Separatists are the good guys and that there's a sith influencing the Senate. Which would have been a cool reveal for the audience, that we're rooting for the bad guys.
But then Dooku is also a sith anyway. What a wasted opportunity.
A few days ago I downvoted someone's comment, and the next day I happened to notice every single comment I've ever made had at least one downvote. All from the person I dared to downvote the ONE time. I straight up asked why they did it, and they seem to think I'm an "obvious" troll account that "apparently just exist to...
Actually, our downvotes don't federate out, and we don't get incoming downvotes either, so you could totally make them private within an instance since that information doesn't leave the instance anyway.
Not advocating one way or the other, just pointing out that it technically could be an option.
It's possible to enjoy problematic media for parts of it that aren't problematic while still acknowledging there are issues with what you're enjoying. Especially for things made in the past, where societal standards weren't the same as they are now.
I think this is especially true for video games, which have both story/visuals and game play. I could sympathize if someone found the game play of an older game very compelling even in the face of problematic story/visuals. Likewise, I can understand someone not enjoying a game specifically because they find it's story/visuals offensive.
At the end of the day, as long as you can understand that a part of older media would be found as offensive to people today, understand why those parts are offensive, and know that those parts aren't ok for modern media, then you're good.
On the flip side, if you specifically, unironically enjoy these games for those parts, then yeah, you're probably racist.
Edit: and in respect to your other posts here, I'll add this: my understanding is that the mod was specifically targeting only that disclaimer, which means the mod maker specifically disagreed with the disclaimer. That is what makes it racist. If it skipped all intros in the game (which it sounds like it didn't), or if the game didn't have a built in option to turn that disclaimer off (which it sounds like it does) then people wouldn't have as much of an issue with the mod.
I find it interesting, especially for games from smaller teams. But I suppose that don't really add anything to the larger conversation. I just find it interesting to hear how some of these games are doing.
I think it just depends on the person. Some folks like giving head exclusively, some like receiving it exclusively. It's a person to person thing. Personally I probably think about giving more than receiving, but I wouldn't be able to speculate on how widespread that would be.
As the title says, we're about to start Phase 2, so I thought it would be nice to reflect on what everyone liked / disliked for Phase 1. Also, I believe classic wow content is allowed here, but let me know if that's not correct....
I hope they continue to release AA titles though, like Star Ocean and Harvestella. They actually released a ton of games over 2022/2023, but at some point I think they were competing with themselves.
I'm reading The Golden Compass for the first time. I'm enjoying it, but I've been going through it slower than other books, and I'm not sure why. After I finish it I might go back and re-read a Terry Pratchett book.
I definitely consume too much dystopian content to be a fair dystopian barometer, but the sheer amount of ads being pushed my way is starting to make me feel legitimately anxious. It feels like a techno-dystopia where all of the neat and artistic elements have been extracted and then ground into dust for our corporate overlords....
If you have an android, you could look into installing revanced on your phone so you can listen to YouTube with it without ads instead of on your work computer. That's what I do.
Everyone is quoting the sequels, but don't forget the prequels. Between those and the sequels, there's a solid 4 movies out of 9 that I'd say are bad, maybe 3 if you're generous.
The games and from what I understand the books can be pretty good though.
Serious question, how often have you rewatched the prequel trilogy? Say what you want about the sequel trilogy, but at least it can be entertaining. The prequels can be so boring.
It doesn't, but most game sales are front loaded at release. Having 8 months on the shelf still makes a difference, for sure, but it's still notable that it was number 1.
It looks like Frogwares is listed as the publisher here, so it sounds like whatever issue they had with their previous published has been resolved. I hope they got all the money they were owed
Correct. When I found out it wasn't going to be on steam, I figured I'd get a physical copy for the PS5 instead. Found out that wasn't all option either...
Hbomberguy is a popular YouTuber who recently released a video on plagiarism on YouTube. You can watch it here. I haven't watched it myself yet, but I'm assuming the person in the article is someone he calls out in his video
Easy book to resume reading?
I’m starting to read after a very long time - it has been decades, since I’ve “read” anything properly. Can I get a good recommendation?
RE: Is Ernest still here?
I check in here quite often, but for now, I'm just focusing on clearing spam and keeping the instance alive. In January, I was working on the AP module, and there has been significant progress in the work, which hasn't been publicly published yet. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the year, I developed a skin condition that...
Kbin pages returning "404 page not found"
The following pages are returning "404 page not found" consistently, for me at least. (Also, breaks infinite scroll on homepage.)...
Is Ernest still here?
I don't mind waiting for things to be fixed what with life interfering with things, but I can't find any activity from Ernest lately. He hasn't been, like... hit by a bus or anything terrible like that, has he?
What is a story were the main villain actually turned out to be the good guy?
Nature (@deliberatelyburied) (programming.dev)
I'm starting to see some serious downsides to being able to see who downvotes you.
A few days ago I downvoted someone's comment, and the next day I happened to notice every single comment I've ever made had at least one downvote. All from the person I dared to downvote the ONE time. I straight up asked why they did it, and they seem to think I'm an "obvious" troll account that "apparently just exist to...
A Florida high school required parents' permission for students to watch Disney's 'Tangled,' prompting some to say local education laws are 'out of control' (www.businessinsider.com)
One parent said the influx of permission slips is getting "out of control" and "burdensome."
San Andreas ROM for PS2 has been taken down by Rockstar on Vimm's Lair (lemmy.ml)
Vimm’s Lair is a site dedicated to console videogame nostalgia....
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Helldivers2 has now surpassed 300,000 concurrent players on Steam (twitter.com)
https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/e81d6c52-7b9a-475d-8e5d-1b52f65b14ea.png...
PlayStation won't launch any "major" games in existing franchises this year (www.eurogamer.net)
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Phase 1 of Season of Discovery is almost over. What are everyone's thoughts on how Phase 1 turned out?
As the title says, we're about to start Phase 2, so I thought it would be nice to reflect on what everyone liked / disliked for Phase 1. Also, I believe classic wow content is allowed here, but let me know if that's not correct....
Square Enix Reportedly Overhauling How It Makes Games (www.ign.com)
OC What are you reading right now?
What the title says. What books are you reading? Or if not books, what are some interesting articles you've read lately?...
The frequency and duration of ad breaks is beginning to make me feel like I’m in that black mirror episode where they had to pay to stop ads from constantly playing.
I definitely consume too much dystopian content to be a fair dystopian barometer, but the sheer amount of ads being pushed my way is starting to make me feel legitimately anxious. It feels like a techno-dystopia where all of the neat and artistic elements have been extracted and then ground into dust for our corporate overlords....
change my mind (dmv.social)
Body text
Not Sparks. (lemmy.world)
Hogwarts Legacy finished as 2023’s best-selling video game in the U.S. market in dollar sales. It is the first year since 2008 that a non-Call of Duty or Rockstar developed title ranked 1st Rock Band. (twitter.com)
Nitter link: nitter.net/matpiscatella/…/1747983570222875017
The Sinking City release on GoG with -70% discount (until 23th) (www.gog.com)
Alan Wake 2's Seemingly Dire Sales Don't Paint the Full Picture (www.ign.com)
Popular gay YouTuber deletes online presence after video accuses him of rampant plagiarism (www.lgbtqnation.com)
James Somerset was making $170,000 a year with nearly 6 million views and 267,000 subscribers on YouTube, until...