So, it's finally happened... President Trump has been impeached. On one side, the Democrats (less a few politically vulnerable members) determining, and voting to match that determination, that the President did not just wrong things, but sufficiently wrong that he needs removed from office. On the other side, the Republicans, flying in the face of the evidence on display, determining the opposite, deciding that nothing the President did was all that bad, because those darn Democrats were out to get him from the start. Not, mind you, because he didn't do what he's accused of doing (that I've heard to date at any rate), but because he's their guy, and the other side are just meanies.
That much alone pretty much seals, in my mind, that the Republican party of today is entirely corrupt, and it doesn't speak well for the few Democrats to follow their lead either. I mean, the first article you can maybe argue one way or the other, but the obstruction of congress one is pretty clear cut... and this stage of the process is just deciding something wrong likely happened, then passing it on to the Senate to determine how wrong and what consequences need to take place because of it. Even if the Senate is going to do their best to quickly and quietly dispose of the burden laid at their feet (which is extremely likely, what with a Republican majority and Trump being "their guy"), this was a perfect opportunity for anyone on the Republican side of the house to say "yeah, this is messed up, maybe we should at least consider there might be a problem", but each and every one decided that party solidarity (and the party's support for their re-election) trumped their oath to defend the Constitution.
Assuming the impeachment trial plays out as expected, and the President is exonerated, the remaining year of Trump's first term is likely going to be a cavalcade of further misbehavior, all with a side of "What ya gonna do, impeach me?" thrown in. Then, it's the election... where the Democrats hope they can grab control of the reins of power, but generally not upset the cart too much, lest they lose their corporate backers and/or spawn a wave of militants from the other side. Republicans, on the other hand, are hoping to ride Trump through that election, do even more to enrich themselves and their backers at the expense of the nation, and maybe find out if Trump was really joking when he's suggested staying on for multiple terms. Between the two, it's not a matter of whether the ship stays afloat, just how quickly we get to watch it sink... and, of course, what rises in its place.
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
Sunday, December 15, 2019
One last look back at BoxThrone
A few months back, I posted about my experiences with ordering from BoxThrone, and, while I've now gotten and am well pleased with the product I ordered, albeit late, there is one bit from that post that warrants looking in on. I noted at the time that their then-current Wave 5 was being offered with a delivery promise of 15DEC19 at the latest. Well, that's today... what's the word from the BoxThrone website?
Well, it's certainly not good news for anybody who was banking on a delivery in time for Christmas. Their pre-order FAQ (today's copy saved courtesy of the Wayback Machine) says their delivery window is now today through the 31st... but it also says the current status of their orders is "On Ocean", which I'm taking to mean that they're all on a container ship somewhere right now, after which they'll have to be unloaded, sent to their distributors, sorted, and finally shipped out to their end users, which doesn't sound feasible in the roughly two weeks until the end of their current delivery window... so, sorry, Wave 5, looks like Christmas is canceled for you.
Of course, in the meantime, they've also accepted orders for a Wave 6 group... I seem to recall getting an email or the "order now for delivery by Valentine's Day", and the current delivery date there says March 7th at the latest, so that'd be another miss. Oh, and they're accepting pre-orders for a Wave 7 group with a May-at-the-latest delivery date (I'm not following up on this one, I've already seen the pattern here). Oh, and of course, there's some poor folks in Wave 4, where the status currently says "Mostly complete".
Yeah, long story short, if you're giving the BoxThrone people money right now and expecting on-time delivery, the evidence doesn't support that in the slightest. I'm even more firmly in the "get back to me when you have stock on hand to sell" camp now.
Well, it's certainly not good news for anybody who was banking on a delivery in time for Christmas. Their pre-order FAQ (today's copy saved courtesy of the Wayback Machine) says their delivery window is now today through the 31st... but it also says the current status of their orders is "On Ocean", which I'm taking to mean that they're all on a container ship somewhere right now, after which they'll have to be unloaded, sent to their distributors, sorted, and finally shipped out to their end users, which doesn't sound feasible in the roughly two weeks until the end of their current delivery window... so, sorry, Wave 5, looks like Christmas is canceled for you.
Of course, in the meantime, they've also accepted orders for a Wave 6 group... I seem to recall getting an email or the "order now for delivery by Valentine's Day", and the current delivery date there says March 7th at the latest, so that'd be another miss. Oh, and they're accepting pre-orders for a Wave 7 group with a May-at-the-latest delivery date (I'm not following up on this one, I've already seen the pattern here). Oh, and of course, there's some poor folks in Wave 4, where the status currently says "Mostly complete".
Yeah, long story short, if you're giving the BoxThrone people money right now and expecting on-time delivery, the evidence doesn't support that in the slightest. I'm even more firmly in the "get back to me when you have stock on hand to sell" camp now.
Saturday, December 7, 2019
Stadia - more nits to pick
Just to be clear, I'm still generally liking what Stadia brings to the gaming table. However, now that I've had the setup for a couple of weeks, I've seen a few more things that might influence whether somebody wanted to give this thing a go.
First, I experienced my first issue with the actual streaming of controls and games. It was only for about 20-30 seconds, but resulted in a sudden loss of screen resolution and some severe control sluggishness. Think like an approaching-full-second response time increase and converting button presses to button holds, that sort of thing. I can only guess it was some momentary networking issue. Since it's only happened to me once in two weeks' play time, I can brush it off as a minor nuisance... but serious competitive players and people inclined to throwing controllers in fits of rage might feel quite differently about such a thing even being a possibility.
Second, since Destiny 2 whines about not having a microphone every time you start the game, I snagged a 3.5mm headset to plug into my Stadia controller (thanks, Woot!). Now, the Stadia controller/ChromeCast combo is obviously the preferred method of play (given that it's the only way, currently, to get a 4K stream), so I expected no problems. However, I experienced pops/crackle on the audio I got through the headset... which, if it were just voicechat audio, that might be one thing, but, at least in Destiny 2, all audio is routed to the headset if it's plugged in, with no option to split it out that I could see. Naturally, I verified the headset itself isn't a problem by plugging it into my Nintendo Switch Lite, where there were no such issues. So, either there's a hardware issue with the Stadia controller's audio jack, or there's an audio processing disparity between the ChromeCast and the Stadia controller, or there's something about audio over WiFi that the Stadia controller isn't properly adapting to. Hopefully, this is something the folks at Google can patch the controller firmware to fix... these days, there are many games where voice chat is nigh on mandatory, and nobody wants to experience their game as if the audio is being transmitted over AM radio.
Finally, there's a potential Stadia store issue. When I fired up Destiny 2 this morning, there was a notification about needing to buy a "Digital Deluxe Edition" before the 10th, if you wanted the coming seasons' contents at 25% off regular price. Of course, if you go to the Stadia app right now, and look through the "All Games" list, there is no such edition listed. So... is this notification intended for all the other Destiny 2 platforms? Or, is Google footing the bill for the next season for Stadia users? Or, is there a new version that should have been on the storefront by now that isn't? I guess we'll see, come the 10th... but any answer that involves "you should have been able to get the thing at a discount, but now you can get it at full price" is going to rankle a lot of already-wary Stadia users.
Well, it'll be interesting to see how things evolve here over the next couple of months. The Destiny 2 pricing question is probably my biggest thing at the moment, since that ties to the value of the eventual $10/month Stadia Pro payout, but I think these are all things that will need to be addressed if they want to be at all competitive once they open their service to the general public for "free".
First, I experienced my first issue with the actual streaming of controls and games. It was only for about 20-30 seconds, but resulted in a sudden loss of screen resolution and some severe control sluggishness. Think like an approaching-full-second response time increase and converting button presses to button holds, that sort of thing. I can only guess it was some momentary networking issue. Since it's only happened to me once in two weeks' play time, I can brush it off as a minor nuisance... but serious competitive players and people inclined to throwing controllers in fits of rage might feel quite differently about such a thing even being a possibility.
Second, since Destiny 2 whines about not having a microphone every time you start the game, I snagged a 3.5mm headset to plug into my Stadia controller (thanks, Woot!). Now, the Stadia controller/ChromeCast combo is obviously the preferred method of play (given that it's the only way, currently, to get a 4K stream), so I expected no problems. However, I experienced pops/crackle on the audio I got through the headset... which, if it were just voicechat audio, that might be one thing, but, at least in Destiny 2, all audio is routed to the headset if it's plugged in, with no option to split it out that I could see. Naturally, I verified the headset itself isn't a problem by plugging it into my Nintendo Switch Lite, where there were no such issues. So, either there's a hardware issue with the Stadia controller's audio jack, or there's an audio processing disparity between the ChromeCast and the Stadia controller, or there's something about audio over WiFi that the Stadia controller isn't properly adapting to. Hopefully, this is something the folks at Google can patch the controller firmware to fix... these days, there are many games where voice chat is nigh on mandatory, and nobody wants to experience their game as if the audio is being transmitted over AM radio.
Finally, there's a potential Stadia store issue. When I fired up Destiny 2 this morning, there was a notification about needing to buy a "Digital Deluxe Edition" before the 10th, if you wanted the coming seasons' contents at 25% off regular price. Of course, if you go to the Stadia app right now, and look through the "All Games" list, there is no such edition listed. So... is this notification intended for all the other Destiny 2 platforms? Or, is Google footing the bill for the next season for Stadia users? Or, is there a new version that should have been on the storefront by now that isn't? I guess we'll see, come the 10th... but any answer that involves "you should have been able to get the thing at a discount, but now you can get it at full price" is going to rankle a lot of already-wary Stadia users.
Well, it'll be interesting to see how things evolve here over the next couple of months. The Destiny 2 pricing question is probably my biggest thing at the moment, since that ties to the value of the eventual $10/month Stadia Pro payout, but I think these are all things that will need to be addressed if they want to be at all competitive once they open their service to the general public for "free".
Saturday, November 23, 2019
Stadia - first impressions
Right, so, I get it, there are a lot of people out there who Very Much Dislike the new Google Stadia service and some of what it may represent, particularly the death knell of game "ownership" (for all software licensing has been a thing for decades). If you're in that camp, you might as well move on, since I'm not here to pile on. Outside of that, I'm also not going to go into any of the various controversies over features missing at launch, pricing concerns, or stream/screen resolution shenanigans. This is purely my experience so far, over the course of a few hours' playtime over the past day. That said, I'm not above being nit-picky here... after all, this is a paid service.
So, first, the "founder's kit" hardware... nice little package, with the bare essentials to get started (outside of a phone that's required to go through initial setup on both the Chromecast Ultra and Stadia controller, the need for which is understandable but unfortunate). I don't care for how the Chromecast dangles from my TV's HDMI port, but, for as often as I muck about behind the TV, it's not horrible, I suppose. The controller I generally like... very similar layout to an XBox controller, and it's a decent weight in my hands. However, it's got two differences that annoy me. First, no removable batteries, which means Yet Another Charger in the house, and, without knowing the lifespan of the included battery, that means charging it after every play session (and removing it from the charger promptly to preserve battery life, per Google's instructions), or risk losing your ability to play midway through a session, for as long as it takes to recharge. Second, they added buttons for Google Assistant (which is thankfully non-functional at the moment) and taking screenshots (which unfortunately does work)... and they were added below their equivalents of start and select buttons on the face of the controller, meaning that I often press one of the new buttons if I'm trying to press one of the old buttons blindly. If any Google hardware engineer is out there, do a vertical swap of those buttons in future, please!
But enough about the hardware, you want to know how it plays, right? I'm not getting into "X milliseconds of lag" territory here, there's plenty of that elsewhere. But it's worth noting mitigating factors that might matter to you before I go into too much detail. First, I'm older (Gen-X old, not Boomer old or older), so I literally might not notice fine differences in input delays and the like. Second, I'm in an urban setting, so I have decent internet (if you can ever call Comcast "decent"), but not so thoroughly packed that the local network is severely oversubscribed, so Your Mileage May Vary.
Let's start with the Chromecast/Stadia controller option. For all the combined setup of things took me the better part of an hour, once it was set up everything worked well. Of particular note, since I know how much trying to stream anything interactive over wireless sucks from my past experiences with Steam Link, I made sure to use a wired connection for my Chromecast. Well, let's say "wired" connection, since it's going through an ethernet hub and a through-the-house-wiring adapter before it reaches my router, but any timing issues added by that combination should still be vastly better than what I know of wireless streaming for this purpose.
As for individual game experiences, I have only tried the "free" games with the Pro subscription to this point. Destiny 2 was quite playable, with no framerate issues and responsive controls (outside of being maybe "over-responsive" when using the analog stick as a mouse pointer in some menu screens)... it was very much like having a local console to play on. I had more issues with Samurai Shodown... not on the display side so much, but the controls weren't doing it for me. Basically, I could pull off "regular" maneuvers without any great grief, but some of the more advanced things were all but beyond me, even in the tutorial screens. However, I can't swear that that's a Stadia thing and not a game thing... for me, Samurai Shodown is a sprite-based affair from the '90s, and the current version felt much more ponderous than I was expecting. Whether that's something about the game itself changing over 20+ years, or Stadia input lag causing havoc, or me just getting older, that I can't narrow down without playing the game on another system. Maybe I'll revisit that when Shodown hits XBox Game Pass (since I figure that's all but inevitable, now that it's been a free game on Stadia).
The other thing I've tried so far is playing Destiny 2 on my ethernet-wired PC with a wired XBox controller for about an hour. Generally, no major problems there, but I did see a couple of frame skips briefly at one point in a mission, so it's not nearly flawless yet. Still, again, it was an entirely playable and enjoyable experience.
Long story short, I actually like it so far... depending on things like how the pricing structure evolves with competition, I could see myself using Stadia as my "main" gaming system, with Steam for cheap/odd games and Switch for on the road and/or "twitchy" games, but we'll see how this all pans out in the coming months.
So, first, the "founder's kit" hardware... nice little package, with the bare essentials to get started (outside of a phone that's required to go through initial setup on both the Chromecast Ultra and Stadia controller, the need for which is understandable but unfortunate). I don't care for how the Chromecast dangles from my TV's HDMI port, but, for as often as I muck about behind the TV, it's not horrible, I suppose. The controller I generally like... very similar layout to an XBox controller, and it's a decent weight in my hands. However, it's got two differences that annoy me. First, no removable batteries, which means Yet Another Charger in the house, and, without knowing the lifespan of the included battery, that means charging it after every play session (and removing it from the charger promptly to preserve battery life, per Google's instructions), or risk losing your ability to play midway through a session, for as long as it takes to recharge. Second, they added buttons for Google Assistant (which is thankfully non-functional at the moment) and taking screenshots (which unfortunately does work)... and they were added below their equivalents of start and select buttons on the face of the controller, meaning that I often press one of the new buttons if I'm trying to press one of the old buttons blindly. If any Google hardware engineer is out there, do a vertical swap of those buttons in future, please!
But enough about the hardware, you want to know how it plays, right? I'm not getting into "X milliseconds of lag" territory here, there's plenty of that elsewhere. But it's worth noting mitigating factors that might matter to you before I go into too much detail. First, I'm older (Gen-X old, not Boomer old or older), so I literally might not notice fine differences in input delays and the like. Second, I'm in an urban setting, so I have decent internet (if you can ever call Comcast "decent"), but not so thoroughly packed that the local network is severely oversubscribed, so Your Mileage May Vary.
Let's start with the Chromecast/Stadia controller option. For all the combined setup of things took me the better part of an hour, once it was set up everything worked well. Of particular note, since I know how much trying to stream anything interactive over wireless sucks from my past experiences with Steam Link, I made sure to use a wired connection for my Chromecast. Well, let's say "wired" connection, since it's going through an ethernet hub and a through-the-house-wiring adapter before it reaches my router, but any timing issues added by that combination should still be vastly better than what I know of wireless streaming for this purpose.
As for individual game experiences, I have only tried the "free" games with the Pro subscription to this point. Destiny 2 was quite playable, with no framerate issues and responsive controls (outside of being maybe "over-responsive" when using the analog stick as a mouse pointer in some menu screens)... it was very much like having a local console to play on. I had more issues with Samurai Shodown... not on the display side so much, but the controls weren't doing it for me. Basically, I could pull off "regular" maneuvers without any great grief, but some of the more advanced things were all but beyond me, even in the tutorial screens. However, I can't swear that that's a Stadia thing and not a game thing... for me, Samurai Shodown is a sprite-based affair from the '90s, and the current version felt much more ponderous than I was expecting. Whether that's something about the game itself changing over 20+ years, or Stadia input lag causing havoc, or me just getting older, that I can't narrow down without playing the game on another system. Maybe I'll revisit that when Shodown hits XBox Game Pass (since I figure that's all but inevitable, now that it's been a free game on Stadia).
The other thing I've tried so far is playing Destiny 2 on my ethernet-wired PC with a wired XBox controller for about an hour. Generally, no major problems there, but I did see a couple of frame skips briefly at one point in a mission, so it's not nearly flawless yet. Still, again, it was an entirely playable and enjoyable experience.
Long story short, I actually like it so far... depending on things like how the pricing structure evolves with competition, I could see myself using Stadia as my "main" gaming system, with Steam for cheap/odd games and Switch for on the road and/or "twitchy" games, but we'll see how this all pans out in the coming months.
Friday, November 1, 2019
Watching BoxThrone: Fail or Flail?
I posted last month about my experience ordering a BoxThrone game storage shelving system, including my eventual "settling" for parts they had on hand, for fear I would never see my order successfully completed. While I'm still pleased with the final assembled product I have on hand, there's always that nagging doubt... maybe, if I had just held on for just a little bit longer, everything would have turned out fine without all the drama involved, that sort of thing. To use a bit of a metaphor, it's a bit like riding on a train, seeing the bridge up ahead is out, hearing the brakes engaging, but thinking they're not strong enough to stop the train in time... so you jump off, suffer a few cuts and bruises on the landing, then watch transfixed as the train tries to stop in time.
So, I went back and checked their website, now that my old "wave" (and the one following it) should have been finished. If the website is to be believed (thanks once again, Wayback Machine), the answer is no. At least, it says it's "Arriving at warehouse/sorting" now, so there's some chance the remaining customers will be getting their goods non-biblically-soon... or it could even be that everything's shipped out already, and they just haven't updated their website (not super likely, but it's possible). Still, looks like that locomotive is tipping into the gorge, so I'm quite glad I got off when I did now.
Update: It's now the 4th, and, while their website hasn't changed, I can verify that they're shipping product. Unfortunately, I can verify that because I got a surprise package. They accidentally shipped part of my original order that, by rights, I shouldn't have gotten under our last deal, specifically the "long" shelves. Thankfully, they weren't any more eager to deal with returning them than I was, so I now have everything I originally ordered, and then some, for all I won't have any use for the long shelves until/unless I break down the entire unit again and set it up in a different setting.
So, I went back and checked their website, now that my old "wave" (and the one following it) should have been finished. If the website is to be believed (thanks once again, Wayback Machine), the answer is no. At least, it says it's "Arriving at warehouse/sorting" now, so there's some chance the remaining customers will be getting their goods non-biblically-soon... or it could even be that everything's shipped out already, and they just haven't updated their website (not super likely, but it's possible). Still, looks like that locomotive is tipping into the gorge, so I'm quite glad I got off when I did now.
Update: It's now the 4th, and, while their website hasn't changed, I can verify that they're shipping product. Unfortunately, I can verify that because I got a surprise package. They accidentally shipped part of my original order that, by rights, I shouldn't have gotten under our last deal, specifically the "long" shelves. Thankfully, they weren't any more eager to deal with returning them than I was, so I now have everything I originally ordered, and then some, for all I won't have any use for the long shelves until/unless I break down the entire unit again and set it up in a different setting.
Thursday, October 10, 2019
Quick games update
I just realized that it had been a while since I posted anything game-related. Heck, I hadn't even updated my "games that have my attention" block since I finished .hack//G.U., and that's been a couple of months now. So, without further ado, here's what's up in video-game-land.
Warframe - still playing it, well over a year since I started, still enjoying it, and that's nothing short of amazing. If you've never tried it, and you like shooter-y games, you really should... free to start, and it doesn't have to be expensive to play and enjoy long-term. Me, I end up spending about $20 every 3 months or so.
No Man's Sky - so, yeah, I double-dipped on this one, caught a decent price on a XBox One physical copy on Amazon. Do love me some Steam streaming, but a controller with a proper right analog stick is a must for this sort of game, and the 4K UHD stuff is a nice bonus. I just wish I didn't feel the need to dedicate an extended play session to even start up the game, but there's just so much there there.
Disgaea 5 - a game series with a similar long-play-session issue, but I finally have a way around that... picked up a Switch Lite when it came out. Now I can basically pause the game at any time, and come back exactly where I left off... mid-Item World for example. I will finish this game (well, for certain values of "finish" at least... let's say complete the main story line at least, since I know there's a lot of activity that opens up after that point in these games).
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - how can I have a Switch and not have this game to mess about with? I don't know that I will ever find a need to get involved with the DLC fighters in this game... heck, I've barely touched what's already there, but I'm still thoroughly enjoying it.
Warframe - still playing it, well over a year since I started, still enjoying it, and that's nothing short of amazing. If you've never tried it, and you like shooter-y games, you really should... free to start, and it doesn't have to be expensive to play and enjoy long-term. Me, I end up spending about $20 every 3 months or so.
No Man's Sky - so, yeah, I double-dipped on this one, caught a decent price on a XBox One physical copy on Amazon. Do love me some Steam streaming, but a controller with a proper right analog stick is a must for this sort of game, and the 4K UHD stuff is a nice bonus. I just wish I didn't feel the need to dedicate an extended play session to even start up the game, but there's just so much there there.
Disgaea 5 - a game series with a similar long-play-session issue, but I finally have a way around that... picked up a Switch Lite when it came out. Now I can basically pause the game at any time, and come back exactly where I left off... mid-Item World for example. I will finish this game (well, for certain values of "finish" at least... let's say complete the main story line at least, since I know there's a lot of activity that opens up after that point in these games).
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - how can I have a Switch and not have this game to mess about with? I don't know that I will ever find a need to get involved with the DLC fighters in this game... heck, I've barely touched what's already there, but I'm still thoroughly enjoying it.
Thursday, September 26, 2019
BoxThrone: Lovely product, shame about the business model
You see, this concept originally started out as a Kickstarter project, before being rolled out as a stand-alone business. Unfortunately, they decided to stick to a custom-order model, doubtless to not have to deal with managing/storing stock... but that means that, if anything goes astray, it impacts the customers directly. With overseas manufacturing involved, well... things can get out of hand.
And so, to the story of my order experience. I ordered a shelving package in late April, as part of "Wave 3" of their pre-order system, assuming that, between the Kickstarter and prior "waves", they should have most of the bugs ironed out. At that time, the latest delivery date listed was in mid-July, which I thought to be a bit long to wait, but, for a custom solution that perfectly addressed a problem I was having, it was tolerable. I was pleasantly surprised, then, when I got a shipment notice in early June. Unfortunately, due to limitations with their order tracking system, I could only see the one tracking number for the three boxes that were sent along, and furthermore no indication that it was a partial shipment. So, I merrily assembled what had come so far, only to discover that the actual shelves were the part that was missing. After emailing in and verifying that it was, in fact, a known-partial shipment, I felt mildly let down... but, with the remainder slated to show up the following month, I decided to leave what assembly work I had done untouched, and just work around the nuisance of the frames taking up space for that long.
Then, things started going sideways. The mid-July delivery date became an end-of-July delivery date, then the end of August, then the end of September, each delay coming as the last deadline was fast approaching... unfortunately, I didn't think to do this when I first ordered, but I had the Internet Archive Wayback Machine copy their shipping FAQ after the second delay, so you can see that here. Then, in early-mid September, they delayed once again to the end of October (which is what their site says today, thank you Wayback Machine)... and, frankly, I'd had more than enough of this saga by then. I won't go into the whole back and forth involved, but it turns out that the main sticking point on my order was that I had ordered some longer shelves for the space between the frames (if you look closely, I've got a few obnoxiously-long games that would have been lovely to put on their own shelves in the middle). They had some stock of their regular shelves on-hand, in off-colors from the frames I'd already received, that they were willing to send along instead of the original shelves ordered, an offer I readily accepted.
So, yeah, now that I've got my shelves, I'm a happy camper, but I sure paid a premium for them in stress. If they look like something you would like... honestly, I'd say wait until next year, and see whether they manage to make good on their current "waves" in a timely manner (Wave 5 currently has a 15DEC19 last delivery date)... or better still, wait until they're able to run under a "order what we have in stock" model rather than a "pre-order and we'll try to get things to you on time" model. But, at the end of the day, it's your money and sanity to risk, so, if you want to jump in now, here's the link to the BoxThrone website.
Monday, September 23, 2019
Sony class action settlement update
In their grand tradition of "not quite a year between doing something noticeable to the general public", the folks running the class action settlement just tacked a little addendum onto the saga I last posted about back in November. For reasons unstated (but that I expect boils down to "enough people couldn't be bothered to deposit a $10 check that they had too much money left over to keep"), they sent me another check, this time for a whopping... $3.02. That makes the total I've gotten so far $13.09, out of the "up to $65" originally promised. At least, this time, my credit union has some updated ATMs that let me deposit this little gem without needing to actually go inside the building, so there's that.
In not-entirely-unrelated news, I also just got a Nintendo Switch Lite, which will let me play some games like Disgaea 5 that I would otherwise have had to buy a PlayStation 4 to play. Not that Sony gear is entirely off the table now, but I'm still going to investigate alternatives thoroughly before I go that route again.
In not-entirely-unrelated news, I also just got a Nintendo Switch Lite, which will let me play some games like Disgaea 5 that I would otherwise have had to buy a PlayStation 4 to play. Not that Sony gear is entirely off the table now, but I'm still going to investigate alternatives thoroughly before I go that route again.
Thursday, July 11, 2019
Latest for the no-buy list: Ford
It's not like I buy a car often these days (or heck, even that I'm in the market for a car right now)... but, last time I did, I was able to buy new, and took the time to compare the offerings of the various "mainstream" auto manufacturers. Sure, the type of car, miles per gallon, aesthetics, price and the like are all important factors, but one of the big ones (that doesn't have an easy gauge on any spec sheet or manufacturer website) is quality of build. You pretty much have to weigh the history of the company's products over a substantial time frame, with more weight given to more recent products. For much of my life, Ford has had... well, at least an image problem. Whether it's the old crack about Ford standing for "found on roadside dead", or the unfortunate design issue of the Pinto (which, for those of you not old enough to remember, made rear-end collisions a potentially explosive situation), or anecdotes from friends and acquaintances about, for example, axles breaking on newly bought trucks, Ford has long had a bit of dodginess about it. Heck, they even tried to counteract that perception, some years back, with their "at Ford, quality is Job 1" slogan. Long story short, all else being equal, I would have probably required a significant price difference in the Ford's favor to buy it over another manufacturer's vehicle, but it would still have been a possibility, up to today.
What changed today, you might ask? Well, the Detroit Free Press put out an investigative article detailing how Ford knowingly put vehicles with flawed transmissions out on the market, and did their best to cover up that it was a known-flawed design after the fact. There really couldn't be a more glaring red line never to be crossed by any manufacturer of any product (and yes, I include the software industry in that, for all it seems like almost common practice there). That's a betrayal of trust that should have significant legal consequences... whether it does or not, I'm quite certain I will never buy a Ford from here out, or sign off on one being bought by any company I work for, simply because I can't envision how Ford can ever convince me that they've fixed the culture that caused this problem to arise. It's bad enough that I'm going to have significant qualms about even considering the products of any other manufacturer that's partnering with Ford in any way, for fear their ethos of "it doesn't matter if it works right, ship it" might have somehow infected their partner.
So, yeah, it's a little sad (Ford being all but synonymous with "American auto manufacturing history"), but Ford's dead to me, barring some amazing, unforeseeable, substantiated turnaround hereafter.
What changed today, you might ask? Well, the Detroit Free Press put out an investigative article detailing how Ford knowingly put vehicles with flawed transmissions out on the market, and did their best to cover up that it was a known-flawed design after the fact. There really couldn't be a more glaring red line never to be crossed by any manufacturer of any product (and yes, I include the software industry in that, for all it seems like almost common practice there). That's a betrayal of trust that should have significant legal consequences... whether it does or not, I'm quite certain I will never buy a Ford from here out, or sign off on one being bought by any company I work for, simply because I can't envision how Ford can ever convince me that they've fixed the culture that caused this problem to arise. It's bad enough that I'm going to have significant qualms about even considering the products of any other manufacturer that's partnering with Ford in any way, for fear their ethos of "it doesn't matter if it works right, ship it" might have somehow infected their partner.
So, yeah, it's a little sad (Ford being all but synonymous with "American auto manufacturing history"), but Ford's dead to me, barring some amazing, unforeseeable, substantiated turnaround hereafter.
Thursday, May 2, 2019
Oculus Quest - looks like a fun toy, but...
Looks like we're taking another step closer to the "future" tech I've seen in sci-fi, anime, and video games from the 90's. Oculus Quest will soon be a thing, giving us a VR headset and controls without any cables tethering you to a PC, or any need for a processor outside of what's in the device, and at a price point comparable to a gaming console. Personally, I'm not super-stoked for this toy at this point, just because there isn't a lot of software available for it yet... whether that will be a problem that fixes itself will have to be seen.
Of course, now that there's hardware, I have to consider uses beyond what it was designed to do. First thing off the top of my head... well, suppose that Google Stadia I posted about last time turns out to be everything it promises to be. If so, it might not be a huge step from streaming one high-quality screen to handling generating a VR display on supporting devices, in which case... well, that opens up a LOT of possibilities, if you can offload processing tasks from the limited hardware of a battery-powered headset to "the cloud".
Of course, now that there's hardware, I have to consider uses beyond what it was designed to do. First thing off the top of my head... well, suppose that Google Stadia I posted about last time turns out to be everything it promises to be. If so, it might not be a huge step from streaming one high-quality screen to handling generating a VR display on supporting devices, in which case... well, that opens up a LOT of possibilities, if you can offload processing tasks from the limited hardware of a battery-powered headset to "the cloud".
Friday, March 29, 2019
Google Stadia - oh, the possibilities
This month, Google announced an upcoming game streaming service by the name of Stadia, slated to launch later this year. There have been, and currently are, other game streaming services out there, but Google's version is supposed to take advantage of their reach and expertise to make a "like-local" connection happen on nearly any hardware, including phones and tablets.
Initial reactions I've seen across the web have been, well, less than enthusiastic. Some are convinced that Google's technical claims are overblown, either because of their experience with networking hardware in general, or due to a firmly-held belief that the system's responsiveness won't be able to keep up with their "leet gaming skillz". Others loudly decry the upcoming death of actually owning the games you pay for, never mind that software "licensing", for good or bad, has been a reality for decades. On top of all that, you have other lingering, unanswered questions, like how much the end-user will need to pay to get access to the service, and how developers will get paid for the games they make for the service, for starters. All in all, it's not a great point for Google to start from.
However, consider the possibilities... suppose Google's technical claims are spot on (or enough so for the majority of game players and types), and the financial details work out well enough for both users and developers. What might that mean, for both Stadia, and for gaming at large?
The first big thing that comes to mind for me is game stability. There are a fair number of games out there available for both the various game consoles and PC. Currently, especially if I'm looking at a launch-day purchase, I'll try to suss out which device the game was built for, and which ones get a "ported" version. Even though I could often get the PC version cheaper, and get the ability to tweak various settings for a better overall experience, I'll often get the XBox version. That's mainly because I know the developers have had access to the exact same hardware I'm using, so I'm less likely to run into problems due to a particular bit of hardware (or its driver software) behaving slightly differently than the developer expected.
Now, bring Stadia into the picture. You get standardized PC-like hardware that any developers using that system will have to test thoroughly against (the end-user not having access to anything like a power switch). That's a standard that PC component manufacturers can also build/test their goods against as a selling point... or somebody (even Google?) could build a "compatibility mode" software package as a layer between the hardware and the games for "in the wild" PCs to work with, simplifying troubleshooting there. Oh, and for the people playing on Stadia, there's no longer any need or justification for third-party DRM software, which would also help out with stability.
The other big thing Stadia could do that I see... well, for all it sounds like hyperbole, I think it could revolutionize multiplayer online gaming. For starters, just think about the current state of online play in almost any game you care to name. If there's one thing I've taken to heart, it's that, given the slightest opportunity, there is a subset of humanity that will find a way to cheat, and even take a certain pride in doing so. They'll install programs on their devices, or tweak the settings on their routers, to get the slightest advantage over their fellow players. Stadia could all but eliminate that issue, since all the cheater has access to is the control inputs and the display output they receive from the service.
On top of that, consider MMOs and other server-based games. Design to now has been limited by what you can offload to the client (thanks in large part to cheaters), and what you can afford to pass between the client and server in real time over a variety of network connection speeds. With your "slow" connection now between the user and their client, their inability to access the internals of the client, and standardized client hardware, you could offload more tasks to the client hardware, and, with a high-speed private connection across Google's network to the server, transmit more data, and be better-connected from things like denial-of-service attacks.
How this will all shake out is yet to be seen, and there are certainly plenty of potential pitfalls yet to be addressed. However, right now, I'm seeing some very nice potential in this Stadia service. Here's hoping!
Initial reactions I've seen across the web have been, well, less than enthusiastic. Some are convinced that Google's technical claims are overblown, either because of their experience with networking hardware in general, or due to a firmly-held belief that the system's responsiveness won't be able to keep up with their "leet gaming skillz". Others loudly decry the upcoming death of actually owning the games you pay for, never mind that software "licensing", for good or bad, has been a reality for decades. On top of all that, you have other lingering, unanswered questions, like how much the end-user will need to pay to get access to the service, and how developers will get paid for the games they make for the service, for starters. All in all, it's not a great point for Google to start from.
However, consider the possibilities... suppose Google's technical claims are spot on (or enough so for the majority of game players and types), and the financial details work out well enough for both users and developers. What might that mean, for both Stadia, and for gaming at large?
The first big thing that comes to mind for me is game stability. There are a fair number of games out there available for both the various game consoles and PC. Currently, especially if I'm looking at a launch-day purchase, I'll try to suss out which device the game was built for, and which ones get a "ported" version. Even though I could often get the PC version cheaper, and get the ability to tweak various settings for a better overall experience, I'll often get the XBox version. That's mainly because I know the developers have had access to the exact same hardware I'm using, so I'm less likely to run into problems due to a particular bit of hardware (or its driver software) behaving slightly differently than the developer expected.
Now, bring Stadia into the picture. You get standardized PC-like hardware that any developers using that system will have to test thoroughly against (the end-user not having access to anything like a power switch). That's a standard that PC component manufacturers can also build/test their goods against as a selling point... or somebody (even Google?) could build a "compatibility mode" software package as a layer between the hardware and the games for "in the wild" PCs to work with, simplifying troubleshooting there. Oh, and for the people playing on Stadia, there's no longer any need or justification for third-party DRM software, which would also help out with stability.
The other big thing Stadia could do that I see... well, for all it sounds like hyperbole, I think it could revolutionize multiplayer online gaming. For starters, just think about the current state of online play in almost any game you care to name. If there's one thing I've taken to heart, it's that, given the slightest opportunity, there is a subset of humanity that will find a way to cheat, and even take a certain pride in doing so. They'll install programs on their devices, or tweak the settings on their routers, to get the slightest advantage over their fellow players. Stadia could all but eliminate that issue, since all the cheater has access to is the control inputs and the display output they receive from the service.
On top of that, consider MMOs and other server-based games. Design to now has been limited by what you can offload to the client (thanks in large part to cheaters), and what you can afford to pass between the client and server in real time over a variety of network connection speeds. With your "slow" connection now between the user and their client, their inability to access the internals of the client, and standardized client hardware, you could offload more tasks to the client hardware, and, with a high-speed private connection across Google's network to the server, transmit more data, and be better-connected from things like denial-of-service attacks.
How this will all shake out is yet to be seen, and there are certainly plenty of potential pitfalls yet to be addressed. However, right now, I'm seeing some very nice potential in this Stadia service. Here's hoping!
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Yes Tim, you're still a thief.
I try not to post about every little thing that catches my notice, but, every once in a while, there's that something special, that extra little splash of "maybe I can bullshit my way out of this" that just demands I say something. Side note: this isn't about our current president and his crew, that tsunami of bullshit is more than I could ever hope to keep up with. Thankfully, we still have news organizations with paid fact checkers for that.
No, this is about someone more local, Tim Eyman, a long-time initiative-hawker in Washington state. Recently, he was caught on video taking a chair from an Office Depot that he didn't pay for. He has since issued a statement through his lawyers, calling it "ridiculous" that anyone would believe that he intentionally stole that chair. Rather, he just forgot to pay for it, and "accidentally removed" the chair.
Now, maybe, just maybe, he's being absolutely honest here. Maybe he's not just another "rich shoplifter" (try Googling that phrase, turns out it's enough of a thing that news stories and psychology articles have been written about it). Maybe he did wheel that chair out to his car before completing his shopping trip, with every intention of paying for it when he finished up. The fact of the matter is, none of that matters. Stores have a tried-and-tested process to avoid that sort of mistake - to wit, gather what you want to buy, pay for what you've gathered, then take what you've paid for with you when you leave. Tim, at some point, decided that he was above the need to follow those simple steps, and act that would leave many of us fearful of being accused of shoplifting on the spot. He did things his way, for reasons good, bad, or indifferent, and as a result took merchandise from a store without paying for it. That's still theft, and I can only hope that he gets the same treatment that any other person who did the same would get.
No, this is about someone more local, Tim Eyman, a long-time initiative-hawker in Washington state. Recently, he was caught on video taking a chair from an Office Depot that he didn't pay for. He has since issued a statement through his lawyers, calling it "ridiculous" that anyone would believe that he intentionally stole that chair. Rather, he just forgot to pay for it, and "accidentally removed" the chair.
Now, maybe, just maybe, he's being absolutely honest here. Maybe he's not just another "rich shoplifter" (try Googling that phrase, turns out it's enough of a thing that news stories and psychology articles have been written about it). Maybe he did wheel that chair out to his car before completing his shopping trip, with every intention of paying for it when he finished up. The fact of the matter is, none of that matters. Stores have a tried-and-tested process to avoid that sort of mistake - to wit, gather what you want to buy, pay for what you've gathered, then take what you've paid for with you when you leave. Tim, at some point, decided that he was above the need to follow those simple steps, and act that would leave many of us fearful of being accused of shoplifting on the spot. He did things his way, for reasons good, bad, or indifferent, and as a result took merchandise from a store without paying for it. That's still theft, and I can only hope that he gets the same treatment that any other person who did the same would get.
Thursday, January 10, 2019
Spoilerriffic! Seafall, final entry
It's been nearly a year since we last played this game, and our injured player hasn't recovered to the point where getting to the gaming table large enough to hold Seafall is practical, and life has other challenges for getting players together regularly... so, I made the command decision, and decided it was time to dissect the set, and see where our further adventures would have taken us. The short answer is, nowhere... because three different players didn't clue in to what the game intended with one of the milestones, The Masks Have Fallen.
Basically, you need to find a chart to the end of the world to collect that milestone, and move on to the endgame from there. Turns out, there are four advisors in the deck that have a hidden graphic on the back of their cards, consisting of the words "chart +5" and a picture that's like the one on the last sealed box. None of us put that together with the "find the chart to the end of the world" description on the milestone... I know, in my case, that I kind of assumed it would act as a bonus to whatever chart we eventually did find. But no, it's just supposed to be "first one found, gets the milestone", which then lets you all know that there are four advisors with that, and you can use them when you try for the final island and "win" the game.
But then, what's all the symbols on the tablets about? Well, I was right on that score, it's a simple substitution cypher at play there. As for what you get... well, mostly they come out to something like an extra glory point for whoever finds them first. However, there are the secrets of the statues to be found as well, which is useful for the real end game.
What's that? Real end game? Yeah, as you might suspect, the presence of another sealed box means that finding the island at the end of the world isn't quite the end of things. Sure, somebody gets crowned Emperor/Empress, and there's much rejoicing, but only briefly... turns out, the final island is of the "gateway to Hell" variety, it gets unsealed, and things go sideways quite quickly. It sets up for a final game session of "try to get the gate closed again, while the world burns, and undead ships and crews roam the seas to try and take out ships". The actual act of closing the gate is either a Raid or Explore (player's choice) at a 20 difficulty rating, which you can use Society advisors, relics, and seals obtained from the statues to offset. If you've found the secret of a statue, the cost to get that seal goes down. Oh, right, the event deck is totally replaced as well, and those "world burning" events basically starts picking off colonies from farthest out first, and, left to its own devices, will eventually destroy the provinces as well, in which case everybody loses. By the way, this mode is also the "if you want to come back and play more Seafall after the story's done" mode.
So, that's the game. I definitely enjoyed the time I played it, but... yeah, I definitely wish that one milestone had been clearer. Not a huge fan of the ending either... I expected something horrific and world-threatening, but I'm more in the school of tentacular monsters and ancient, extra-dimensional evil turning a player against everyone else than "Hell happens, everybody make it stop". And honestly, if I had played through that ending once, I don't see where we would have ever come back to play after that... it's a nice gesture, having replayability, but it doesn't seem to match the flavor of the base game up to that point very well at all. Oh well, it was a positive experience overall, can't hold a late-game stumble against it too harshly.
Basically, you need to find a chart to the end of the world to collect that milestone, and move on to the endgame from there. Turns out, there are four advisors in the deck that have a hidden graphic on the back of their cards, consisting of the words "chart +5" and a picture that's like the one on the last sealed box. None of us put that together with the "find the chart to the end of the world" description on the milestone... I know, in my case, that I kind of assumed it would act as a bonus to whatever chart we eventually did find. But no, it's just supposed to be "first one found, gets the milestone", which then lets you all know that there are four advisors with that, and you can use them when you try for the final island and "win" the game.
But then, what's all the symbols on the tablets about? Well, I was right on that score, it's a simple substitution cypher at play there. As for what you get... well, mostly they come out to something like an extra glory point for whoever finds them first. However, there are the secrets of the statues to be found as well, which is useful for the real end game.
What's that? Real end game? Yeah, as you might suspect, the presence of another sealed box means that finding the island at the end of the world isn't quite the end of things. Sure, somebody gets crowned Emperor/Empress, and there's much rejoicing, but only briefly... turns out, the final island is of the "gateway to Hell" variety, it gets unsealed, and things go sideways quite quickly. It sets up for a final game session of "try to get the gate closed again, while the world burns, and undead ships and crews roam the seas to try and take out ships". The actual act of closing the gate is either a Raid or Explore (player's choice) at a 20 difficulty rating, which you can use Society advisors, relics, and seals obtained from the statues to offset. If you've found the secret of a statue, the cost to get that seal goes down. Oh, right, the event deck is totally replaced as well, and those "world burning" events basically starts picking off colonies from farthest out first, and, left to its own devices, will eventually destroy the provinces as well, in which case everybody loses. By the way, this mode is also the "if you want to come back and play more Seafall after the story's done" mode.
So, that's the game. I definitely enjoyed the time I played it, but... yeah, I definitely wish that one milestone had been clearer. Not a huge fan of the ending either... I expected something horrific and world-threatening, but I'm more in the school of tentacular monsters and ancient, extra-dimensional evil turning a player against everyone else than "Hell happens, everybody make it stop". And honestly, if I had played through that ending once, I don't see where we would have ever come back to play after that... it's a nice gesture, having replayability, but it doesn't seem to match the flavor of the base game up to that point very well at all. Oh well, it was a positive experience overall, can't hold a late-game stumble against it too harshly.
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