Bjorn

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Posts posted by Bjorn

  4. Posted

    One of our kitties is very behaviorally challenged, winding himself into bawling/crying fits that we have not been able to break him of (usually to go out, but not always). Logically I understand how to train a cat, but maintaining good training habits at 3 in the morning when he's woken us up by screaming in our face is....difficult.  But he's also by far our most affectionate cat.  When he's not screaming, he's awesome, and he's awesome like 98 percent of the time.

     

    So, he's becoming an outside cat at night.  It's just too hard to get a good night's sleep with him inside, and our house isn't big enough to lock him in a room overnight without still being able to hear him.  So over the holidays I built him a sweet little kitty house.  There's a low grade heat lamp inside that keeps it between 70-80 degress.  Soft blankies to sleep on.  I do feel bad tossing his ass out into the cold at night, but we're at our wits end of dealing with him. 

     

    Also, the lady scored that sweet ass stone sign at Goodwill for $1.75.  Best Goodwill purchase ever.  I need to do some other prettying work to it.  The lady will probably burn some decorative stuff into the wood, shingle it, paint his name on it somewhere.  But it works for now. Also managed to build it with lumber left over from other projects!  I always like putting scrap to good use.  The top is hinged and latched for easy access.

     

    post-33601-0-36712400-1452095282_thumb.jpg

  7. Posted

    I just discovered this thread! Can I gush? Is that ok?

     

    We adopted Finn one week after we moved to NYC. She was a tiny baby when we got her - 2.5 lbs and 2 1/2 months old.

     

    Finn, early November:

    https://twitter.com/Danielleri/status/665169446634283008

     

    Her, today:

    https://twitter.com/Danielleri/status/683712758160986112

     

    She's adventurous and super, super affectionate. This probably has to do with the fact that we got her so young and we love holding her and walking around the house, but she doesn't go long in between cuddles. (And she sort of likes me better than my gf, but I just think it's because she spends more time with me!)

     

    Every morning, she likes to give me kisses and spoon for a bit. Even when she naps, she likes to have her head and at least one paw on me. She's just a little snugglebunny, and I couldn't be happier.

     

    I've never had a pet before, and I am head over heels in love with our little furball. I can't get over how loving and sweet she is (whenever I'm upset, she comes over to investigate and try to cuddle). I seriously miss her when I'm away for any length of time - even just when I'm out to class. I didn't see her for four days at Christmas and I think I almost died.

     

    Is this normal?

     

    We're thinking of getting a puppy sometime soon, so I was wondering if folks have any advice for kitty/puppy harmony. Finn is still a baby at 4 months (we've heard it's good to introduce them young so they can grow up together)... anything else we should be aware of?

     

    Please feel free to spam the thread with as many kitty pictures and gushes as possible :)

     

    I'm not a dog person, but from what I do know, the younger the better to get them to bond, or at least tolerate, one another. Dogs especially need a lot of socialization when young if you want them to always be chill with new animals and people.  Like, ideally you'd want a young dog to meet dozens of other people and dogs during its first year (hence part of the point of dog parks). 

  8. Posted

    That's not a problem in itself but Big Picture mode doesn't like it when you switch between a controller and keyboard, something I do frequently.

     

    This is a complaint I've seen pop up in several places, and is something that sounds super annoying.  Even when I'm using a controller, I often still have a mouse and/or keyboard available if they make certain things easier (like menu navigation, as an example).  Like in Warframe, controllers work fine to play the game, but many of the menus are virtually unnavigable with a controller because of how they are set up.

  9. Posted

    That's disappointing, but at least that means I can delay getting one until it's a little more fully baked.

     

    I usually switch between controller or keyboard depending on what game I'm playing, favoring controller for anything that's not a strategy game or the like.  I really need to replace one of my controllers.

  10. Posted

    So I was doing some reading on the Steam Link, thinking about picking it and a Steam Controller up with some reward points I've got, but is it true that the Link does not support any surround sound, just stereo?  If so, that's a major deal killer for me.

     

     

    Those of you with the controller, once the novelty wore off, have you continued using it?

  11. Posted

    Humble Monthly Bundle was pretty damn good again.

     

    Talos Principle (been on my list to buy since it came out, worth the monthly sub cost all by itself)

    The Masterplan - I already own this, and kind of hate it because it was an EA game that ended up cutting local co-op, which is the only reason to buy it.  But it looks like a good game if you aren't bitter about that

    Mushroom 11 - No clue about this one, but really positive reviews

    Grim Fandango Remastered - Already own it, but this will make a good surprise gift for someone

    Spelunky - Again, owned, but good gift material

    Fistful of Gun - This is another local co-op game that's been on my list of shit to buy, so that's a nice addition

     

    This is the first bundle where I already owned half the bundle, but a couple of them are games I'm excited about giving people, and the Talos Principle and Fistful of Gun, even on sale, are more expensive than the bundle cost. 

  13. Posted

    Gaming in the holidays is always a bittersweet thing for me.  As a kid, my older brother and I would, naturally, always ask for new games.  We would usually only get a new game bought for us at Christmas and our birthdays, the rest of the year we'd have to make due with renting or borrowing them.  So Christmas was always extra exciting because we'd each have a new game to sit down and explore and learn together.  Sitting in the dark, the glow of the TV, struggling to stay awake and eventually falling asleep as my brother worked on one of the original Zelda dungeons.  It's like, the very definition of home in some ways.

    My brother's gone now.  It was a long time ago (like, pushing 2 decades), so it's not like that loss is anywhere near fresh.  But it's hard not to think about playing games with him when the holidays roll around.  I still like getting games for Chirstmas.  Even though I game a lot at times, it's often a guilty pleasure because as a grown ass adult I know there are other things I could or should be doing.  But Christmas is one of those rare times when once all the family time is done, I can just sit down and game guilt free.  And for the last decade Christmas gaming time has been spent with the lady and/or our daughter, which is wonderful in it's own way.  Giving a kid that Christmas squeal moment is actually better than having experienced it as a kid.

    Like I said, kinda bittersweet.  If you've got those memories of gaming with a sibling, or cousin, cherish them.  They're more precious than you may realize.

  14. Posted

    I feel down on this year's AAA releases at least. It feels like a lot ones I was looking forward to got delayed until next year or ended up somewhat disappointing. Really the only ones I played and enjoyed were Fallout 4 and Metal Gear. There's been a ton of good smaller games though. My GOTY list is pending me being at home to take a look at my spreadsheet. 

     

    I feel like this year continues the malaise I've been feeling about AAA in general for a few years.  I can't look at AAA games and declare them bad, per se, just the feeling like they aren't what I'm looking for. 

  15. Posted

    Damn, looking at Steam...I have played almost no games that were actually released this year, or at least not enough to have a decent opinion on them (like, I played Downwell and Rocket League, but while great, neither captured me like they did some others). 

     

    Bloodborne was great, though didn't end up taking over my life the way previous Souls games have.

    Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth was pretty swell.

    Warframe (yeah, technically out for a couple of years, but still getting regular content updates so it counts) is scratching a Mass Effect 3 MP itch better than I ever could have hoped. 

  20. Posted

    This whole ridiculous thing seems to be an argument in favor of some portion of gamers being woefully lacking in appreciating art or narrative that diverges from traditional power fantasies, plus a culture that's been encouraged to look for conspiracy theories for years now (both in the real world and in the narrative of the media they are consuming). 

     

    From what I've seen, there is zero evidence of this being a work of strict non-fiction outside of the imaginations of some people.  FFS.

  21. Posted

    Really interesting, Bjorn. Although the scorn for the New York Times caught me off-guard. You don't have to read the article I linked, obviously, but I'm bummed at the disparaging remarks made against it, especially since the author seems to agree way more with you than with anything I've been saying. I don't think it's fair to set up a choice between your friend's story and what someone might write on the subject of race in a big publication, because that seems like a backwards way of correcting privilege. In a just world, there wouldn't be a choice, and someone with your friend's background could share a byline with the woman who wrote that article.

     

    (Unless you think that institutions like the New York Times are inherently oppressive and no number of minority writers will change that. If you do -- and I'm sorry if I'm putting words in your mouth here -- than fair enough. I don't happen to, so I'll try and politely raise my objection. I suppose it's a display of my own bias that the part of your piece that I chose to respond to was your criticism of the NY Times, but I honestly don't have anything else to contribute to your friend's story except to say that I'm sorry the world exists they way it does and I want it to get better for everyone.) 

     

    I hadn't replied to this, in part because my thoughts on the media (particularly certain iconic traditional media) are long enough to fill a book.  But I thought it was a question worth answering.  In short, I have more or less lost trust in a majority of news institutions (there are still individuals I have trust in, even within some of those institutions).  And part of that lack of trust is inside knowledge (from having been a journalist and knowing journalists who've worked all over this country) of multiple publications, TV shows and websites of how voices are selected.  I'll be honest, I have a lot more knowledge about the Times than I do the New Yorker, so the fairness of lumping them together may be questionable.  But this popped up today, Neil deGrasse Tyson's rejection of the offer to write a Times op-ed on Affirmative Action, and speaks at least some to the reasons I've lost respect for a place like the Times.

     

    This month has also seen the remembrance of Times editor Jeff Schmalz, who was basically single handedly responsible for changing the Times (and by extension, many other publications) coverage of AIDS/HIV.  That didn't happen until Schmalz got HIV and was forced to out himself to his bosses because of deteriorating medical conditions.  The Times didn't particularly care about AIDS until one of their own had it.  I think that continues to be true of places like the Times to this day.  (I recognize some personal hypocrisy here that I've admitted to caring about certain issues because of personal connections, but I'm also not in charge of one of the most important news sources in the world). 

     

    I also have some personal animosity towards some of the national coastal news sources, whose coverage of "fly over country" usually ranges from silly to insulting, and rarely is accurate and impressive.  And thus also contributes to their the lack of trust in their coverage.  Election season usually increases this animosity.

     

    Even within somewhere like The Times, I'm sure there are many examples of decent representation.  But at the end of the day, I view virtually all traditional news outlets as being businesses whose best interest lies in maintaining the status quo.  And that means that there ends up being a bias in voice selection over time, and thus my trust is eroded in them. 

  23. Posted

    Sorry for the multiple long-ish posts... this game just started to grab me and I'm excited to talk about it.

     

    No, that's awesome, post away.  I've always enjoyed your long takes on games.

     

    Those are not the lizards I was talking about.  There are small lizards, with a crystal/gem in their back, who run away from you if you get close, and they'll either burrow into the ground or suicide off a cliff.  You've generally got just a few seconds to kill one once it spots you, or you do damage to it.  They always drop some upgrade material.

     

    If you're online, then you don't need to worry about World Tendency.  Online, Tendency is controlled by the actions of all players (so it generally hangs around neutral, though with a low enough player base I suppose it might have more variance in it).  Tendency ranges from Pure White to Pure Black.  Certain things only happen at each extreme, but it generally takes some offline manipulation to achieve that.  But then, to do that, you're giving up the online experience.  That's one of the reasons I'm really critical of it.  it's obtuse, encourages offline play to really experience it and is nearly impossible to figure out without a guide. 

  24. Posted

    Really, as long as you've got that stats for a decent weapon (and most of them are capable at least), you should get through fine.  And there are a lot of people who are fans of the Quality build.  As far as magic goes, my first playthrough was pure magic, and later playthroughs avoided it entirely.  I enjoy the non-magic playthroughs more, I think the magic system, while useful, ultimately ends up separating you from many of the things that make the game mechanically interesting.  So keep on trucking!

     

    3-1, the tower, remains one of my favorite (and most terrifying) video game environments of all time.  It's sparsely populated, but what's there is mysterious, terrifying and capable of killing you so easily. 

     

    If you've avoided guides or FAQs, I very, very, very much suggest at least reading a guide about weapon upgrading.  I'm going to guess that at this point you've noticed the little crystal lizards that appear occaisionally?  They are the most consistent way to get upgrade materials in the game.  If so, know that you only get one shot at each one, BUT that each one will respawn once per boss killed in their world (so theoretically you get...4 or 5 spawns of each lizard once you've gone all the way down a path, depending on the world).  So even if you don't want to track them down with a guide, remember where you see them, so you can come back and take another shot at them after you've killed your next boss. 

     

    Are you playing online or offline?  World Tendency is fucking weird and convoluted, and by far the one aspect of Demon's Souls that I'm super critical of.  Unfortunately, reading about it, how it works, and how to manipulate it is very likely to result in possibly spoiling some interesting things.  But without reading about it, it's a near certainty that you will miss out on several interesting (though not strictly necessary) things. 

     

    With both the lizards and Tendency, I'd say if you think you're enamored enough that you might make another playthrough, you could hold off on reading about them for that.  But if you're pretty sure this is going to be a one and done game, it's worth reading about them (and eventually worth reading about Tendencies no matter what, because of what a strange, little unique (and bad) idea it was). 

  25. Posted

    I wonder if that sense of culturallessness (sure, of course that's a word) plays into how some Americans see other cultures.  That's not me judging, just a genuine curiosity.

     

    I don't perceive any kind of American culture, not really.  I'm always going to be a Kansan, and a farm kid.  Those are identities, but I don't know if they cross over to true cultures.