You’re right, and I’ve learned to ignore most advice I read from enthusiasts. I bought a cast iron pan 20 years ago for $15 and I still use it to cook almost everything, including eggs.

I did splurge and buy a nice dutch oven to make baking bread easier, but it’s not necessary.

Multiple times now I’ve been mocked relentlessly for PC building advice or opinions on software development I had that became commonplace within 3 years, like when I said noSQL databases were overrated as hell but they had their uses. Made enemies on both sides lol… And now that’s the common opinion.

That game was so much more fun than reviewers made it out to be.

I don’t understand why people keep saying Elden Ring is so different from Dark Souls, because it’s really not different at all. I say this as someone who enjoys these games: if your issue with Dark Souls was the base gameplay loop and not the map, Elden Ring will not fix that.

I never made it out of the first zone. I was honestly shocked by how little I cared for it considering I made it through Jade Empire, but Origins just felt like Knights of the Old Republic and that game bored me too.

I mean most of the people shilling it probably were teens at the time they played it. It’s like Neon Genesis Evangelion: teenage drama that’s “deep”, but when you watch it as an adult it just doesn’t hit.

These people don’t seem to learn the lesson the game teaches you right from the start by having the asylum demon stomp your ass until you figure out you should try a different path.

One of the most emotional gaming experiences I ever had was Iji, a freeware game I happened upon while looking for something else. I did not expect that.

Prepare yourself for two playthroughs :)

Take a look at Ballionaire and Cloverpit if you enjoy Balatro.

Maybe you’d prefer Monster Hunter or Elden Ring combat.

Deus Ex and the Metal Gear Solid series both have some shockingly prescient plot points. In 2025 playing these is a trip.

I didn’t play Darkfall but I know people who did, and I was completely unsurprised when it failed the first time because it had the same problem as Ultima Online but much worse: the people engaging in PVE are the only ones actually taking any risks.

EVE has the same problem if you’re running high end gear or implants (people will always kill your escape pod in the hope of causing you this pain). The factors that are supposed to discourage random killing are easily subverted with only minor investment, and there is a culture of “milking tears” that has persisted even into what passes for adulthood for many of these people.

I honestly have concerns about recommending EVE, it has changed a lot including a lot more real-money transactions.

Wurm Online, Vintage Story, Eco, and some of the Minecraft servers (typically with “civilization” or somethong in the title) are all very crafting focused games. Beware that Wurm Online is a subscription game.

If you’ve got questions let me know: I haven’t played a lot of Eco and Minecraft civs yet but I understand the basics. I have a decent chunk of hours in Wurm and Vintage Story.

Its funny how much of the random PVP crowd still cries about Seamless Coop. I have been playing open PVP games since Ultima Online and frankly open PVP has never been fun. See the fans of this mechanic will say “well you’re just afraid to take risks carebear” but in reality they’re the ones closer to carebear mentality than the people running valuables through risky places. The victim is ironically the only person taking any real risk, because the attacker can choose their battles and take only equipment they’re willing to lose.

Once I figured this out I built myself to trick people into attacking me and then they’d find out I’m entirely specced for player killing, usually much too late to do anything about it. The tears from the people who call others carebears are the best tears of all.

My friend and I got into Wurm Online and we went way too hard doing this. Like to the point we managed to upset half the server (and I’m not exaggerating, there were many forum threads about us lol).

Has your friend ever tried EVE Online? I guess a better question follows: should they ever try EVE Online?

I wonder how? Plex is actually worse to navigate and filled with ads and shit.

The issue I had: Jellyfin experience is a better on Firestick and Chromecast than it is on Roku, but the difference has been shrinking fast due to contributions from someone named 1hitsong on GitHub. That person has absolutely hammered patches out over the past few months.

When my friends talk about what books they’re reading and it comes back to me I just joke and say “oh I largely read non-fiction”.

I read every manual, decision tree, process document, whatever lands in front of me.

RTFM is life

I just personally wish the COVID lifestyle was more accessible.

Same, it suited me quite well and I feel bad saying I missed it because so many others, including some of my own family and friends, suffered. Now that I’m back in the office 5 days a week, I lose >2 hours a day with my kids. I had my own parents say “i don’t get why you’re complaining, we got by before COVID” while refusing to acknowledge it’s different because one of them stayed home with us, while my wife and I must both work to survive.

I grew up in a religious conservative family. These and other experiences drove me to the left in a big way. I see now that thinking we can solve systemic issues with individualism is bullshit. I want a world where my wife or I could stay home (or some communal solution) to raise our family right rather than having a bunch of latchkey kids and being stuck doing chores from the moment we get home until the moment we lie down. Some people say “well that’s how I was raised” but it isn’t right.

Now that would be a funny headline.

No sadly COVID lockdown isolation did them in. I’ve never seen minds and bodies decay so fast. I have another friend who developed full-blown psychosis from it too, and at this point it looks like he’s never coming back. The lockdowns were harder on some people than we were/are ready to talk about I think.

When my wife’s grandparents had to get a new computer they got upset about the new windows interface and the fact their old games didn’t work, so I set them up with Linux and a DE that resembled XP (it’s what they were familiar with), and I was able to get most of their games going.

They used it without issue until they died.

Your OS isn’t getting regular updates!!!

This is a feature imo.