I’ve found the overall performance to be more consistent/better. The “better” part is a bit moot as every time I buy a new phone, the performance should be better than the last one just because it’s newer technology.

And while there are a lot of things I don’t like, core performance kind of overshadows any other issues I have or features I’m missing out on. Perhaps I should have said “better for my needs” instead of “better product.”

Yeah, obviously hyperbole, but there is a kind of console fanboy-ism around smartphones which is honestly bizarre.

And while I’d rather Apple not be so shitty about proprietary everything, it’s also not the end of the world.

I’ve owned flagship androids and iphones. I like my iPhone better, sorry. If other companies want to make a better product, I’ll switch back again. It’s not really about the exclusivity/walled garden nonsense.

Some people would have laughed you out of the room. A lot of people, myself included, warned that this was the kind of shit we’d spiral into with these microtransactions. It was basically confirmed within a year or two with the absolutely insane amount of money mobile gaming was seeing where the base product was just addictive crap with as many microtransactions shoveled in as possible. These games just completely blew the revenue of actual AAA titles would out of the water. It was basically inevitable and we’re now in a situation where we’ve got a generation of consumers raised on this trash.

This was my thought as well. Pretty sure I already have all of that turned off but I would have done that as part of the install and brief customizing of the UI. Can’t say I ever used a guide or anything, or even considered it unusual for modern software.

Ah, that likely explains it. I know when installing I hit “no” on anything that sounds remotely marketing related and I turned off search and weather because they just don’t add any value and I like a clean screen. So I think the only ads I get are the small, unobtrusive ones on the lock screen, which I can’t say I’m bothered by in the slightest. I barely even notice them since it isn’t like I stare at the lock screen.

I’m so confused by the ads thing. I don’t think I’ve noticed any since upgrading to Win 11. Are they only on certain editions or something?

I recently picked up Midnight Suns which, to be very clear is not FFT. However, I will say despite the kind of bad story and corny aspects of it, the actual turn based combat is excellent. I thought I would hate it being card-based but it really grew on me a lot. Definitely scratched the FFT itch.

Old games? Let me throw Final Fantasy Tactics in the mix. Easily my favorite game of all time and one of the only ones I consistently come back to, despite releasing in 1997.

If you’re not familiar, FFT is a turn-based tactics game which is very different from other mainline FF games in a lot of ways. The story is one of the best, if not the best, in the FF series. For gameplay, you recruit and manage soldiers which progress using a fairly in-depth job system which is also pretty easy to pick up.

I’m sure you could find a PSX emulator of the original but, honestly, I really recommend the updated War of the Lions edition they did for the PSP. It’s been ported to mobile and is actually a great port. My one tip for anyone who tries it is to make multiple save slots in case you find yourself overwhelmed in a story dungeon/encounter.

This would be my absolute dream. I loved BG3 but the weakest part of me was being based on D&D 5e. PF2 is just a better system in pretty much every way imo.

If they could make a PF2 CRPG, that would be incredible.

Gotta be Into Free which was the original main title music from Dragon’s Dogma.

It was removed for Dark Arisen for reasons I am unsure of, so it isn’t even something you can experience without mods.

It is wildly different from the rest of the game’s music but still connected in a way, and sets a very different vibe. Great game, great music.

I think the worst part about this starter pack is that, not only is it mostly useless garbage, new players (who this targets) have no idea this is mostly useless garbage. They surely don’t even know you can only equip one of these weapons at a time, let alone that they are far from meta.

D2 is just the absolute most miserable experience for new players and Bungie consistently makes it worse. It’s baffling. Meanwhile, they try to milk their veteran players more and more every season by offering more for money, less for free, and making the game more of a grind.

The best part about Destiny 2 is it has personally put me on a hard line against any kind of live service game for the foreseeable future.

I don’t think it helped that all the gameplay looked like a partial effect explosion which was otherwise extremely generic and uninteresting.

Ms. Marvel is up there in terms of my favorite D+ series and what you mentioned had a lot to do with it. The end of the season felt extra corny and like some generic Netflix production but overall it was really fun.

Mostly because of her, I would like to check out The Marvels in theaters but I just don’t think we’ll have time and, realistically, it’s going to be streamable in, what, a couple of months? That’s probably the bigger issue - there aren’t really movies I’m so excited to see that I can’t wait that long.

It is straight up delusional to believe we could just flip a switch and not have cars anymore. And I also notice you still haven’t provided an actual solution outside of “just use trains, bicycles, or walk.”

Whenever I see takes like this, I just assume they aren’t from, or maybe have never visited, America. The majority of the country was built on the assumption of travel via automobile from public transportation (or the lack thereof) to urban planning to housing. For the country to function without cars, it would require massive renovations to rebuild cities vertically, install a vast and complex rail system, and completely alter the culture of work and trade. And we can totally do this, but it will be very expensive and take a very long time, and to suggest investing in EVs in the meantime is somehow foolish because it doesn’t fully solve the problem is a bit dense. You can do both at once, not that we are, to be fair.

Fully investing in sustainable public transportation and infrastructure is something that would have to take at least a decade, even with absolute maximum commitment. So, yes, anyone who thinks that you can “just switch to trains, bicycles, or walking” is incredibly naive and absolutely fantasizing. Not suggesting it can’t be done but we have to live in reality where cost, labor, time, and public interest are factors and those make “just” doing it a bit more complex.

I love the childish smug energy of this comic which simultaneously suggests merely mitigating a serious problem is inadequate and also provides no proposed solution whatsoever. If solutions which have compromise because they are rooted in reality are a problem, I suggest finding a way to live in a world of fantasy.

You got that right, Buddy.

I don’t think he’s wrong. AAA game prices have been basically the same for 20+ years, while the cost of making games has only gone up. I think this is why a lot of publishers push for progressively more aggressive microtransactions, which can often hide the actual price of the game’s content. And greed but that’s kind of their job.

The idea that BG3 and Overwatch 2 released at the same price point is actually ludicrous. With AAA games, the price is standard and if you don’t like the game, oh well fuck you. And I would absolutely pay extra for games from developers which invested more, and had a higher standard of quality. Larian could charge $100 for their next CRPG and I’d be all in. Similarly, I don’t think minimally viable cash grab titles or smaller, maybe more experimental titles should release for more than like $30.

I think the indie scene does this pretty well but it’s a challenge for AAA, and consumers are somewhat to blame. I think people would balk more at an $80 standard price than a $60 half-complete game with $4k of microtransactions. So of course, studios are going to go with the latter strategy, even though plenty of people hate it.

Just omit either “well” or “actually”. Maybe swap both for “surprisingly” or “unfortunately” depending on the context of the correction. I understand the struggle :(

Oh hey, it’s me. After a solid hiatus, I came back to the game just before Beyond Light but this season had to step away, possibly for good. For me, it wasn’t just how terrible Lightfall was (and it is terrible). I don’t even care about PvP being neglected, though that is a huge L for that crowd. For me it’s just the hyper aggressive escalation of their monetization for the game. And frankly, I thank them for it because after Destiny 2, I’m adding “live service” to the list of criteria that make me dodge a game entirely. I’m not an ATM, I’m just here to enjoy a game.