I think a lot of the community pushback is for that exact reason. People expect a different game when a 2 is attached, not a shinier version of the same game. I really don't know if any IP that's done this well from a marketing standpoint. Maybe OW2, but that's also been a trainwreck.

I don't know that I agree necessarily with your second point though. A big selling point for a lot of the live service games going through this process is a changeover to a newer game engine. You'd be surprised how limiting in terms of features, graphics, and performance it is to be on an engine that's over a decade old.

This is the perfect time for character reworks imo and they're trying at least. As long as they keep the original design intent in mind this is the most efficient time from a dev standpoint to tweak unbalanced and broken characters.

I agree that releasing a live service sequel is tough though. I don't think I've seen one try that didn't receive an astronomical amount of hate for it.

It's early access development. I'm not even sure it's a beta at this point.

Ahhh, thanks for the clarification.

Smite 2 has been bombing? I wasn't aware it was even available to anyone yet? I've been looking forwards to it.

It goes 24/7 open alpha at the end of the month and they've had a handful of closed alpha weekends and marketing tournaments over the past few months. The game suffers from some weird design/map choices and they've only ported over like a dozen or so gods so far which is a big sticking point for a bunch of people. I'm sure it will be fine eventually, but it's rough around the edges right now.

I can't really find any good information right now. Is this a beta still or this a sneaky release? If it is still in beta a lot these points will probably be adjusted soon, especially 2-4.

I know the Smite community has been excited for the release since Smite 2 has been bombing so much at least and it also is receiving similar criticism.

This is all mostly true in my experiences. The sexual aspects being the most impactful and otherwise just being careful about how you dress, which is more of a slight inconvenience sometimes than an actual problem, but there are others.

• There's no such thing as a quickie because of how much warmup is required and then once you're down to business chafing becomes a serious issue very quickly if you're not careful.
• Most alternative sexual acts to PIV(and even that) are out of the question or difficult and unsatisfying with some women.
• You can't use standard condoms without risking breakage and need to use very expensive brands or custom order them(and they still don't fit right).
• Depending on how far up the spectrum you are, staying erect without medical help can be difficult, but this is more of a fringe issue.
• Wearing good underwear is required otherwise nothing is left to the imagination. For example, I generally can't wear sweatpants or swimwear in polite company without taking extra precautions. In a similar vein tight clothes also present a similar issue and are more uncomfortable.
• A lot of people don't realize the self esteem issues that usually come along with it. It sucks to literally have an otherwise great relationship ruined because you physically cannot have sex with a partner.
• A lot of men end up with weird dysmorphia issues. You don't even realize it's an issue until you're well into adulthood because porn has ruined people's expectations. If you're not 12 inches long, you're not big. I didn't even realize the extent of the problems it caused until I was in my late 20's because until that point I actually thought I was small...
• You will never receive any sympathy for any of these issues and talking about it will get you laughed at in most circles.

I had the same thought when I saw Conan on the list too. I always thought it started in film and TV.

The biggest ones that come to mind for me are The Witcher and anything Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. I know the SMT series was originally based off the Digital Devil novels, but kind of developed its own identity pretty quickly.

There were some interesting names in this list from Wikipedia I found.

That's what I think as well. Most likely just daily pricing updates for the exact legal reason SoyViking says.

I worked IT in grocery for a long time. The company I worked for was starting to sell these as I was leaving so I don't know a lot of the behind the scenes talk anymore, but the general thought was just for it to be a replacement of the paper labels that they usually replace weekly anyway. Maintaining shelf labels is actually a huge pain in the ass.

I finally got a chance to give it a listen and I really enjoyed it overall. The jazzy song structure of the first few tracks (chorus-instrumental improv-chorus) was a little off-putting to me, but after about halfway through I was really everything they were doing. I don't know why but every time I hear an upright bass organically mixed into a rock track it gives me a nice fuzzy feeling. I haven't heard anything of theirs since Contra released and they've definitely come a looong way in terms of mixing and composition.

Thanks for the heads up, I'll have to check out how they've matured over the years. I enjoyed them back when they were relevant, but as you say they were way too upbeat and simplistic to stand up over time. Definitely some fun guitar riffs to play though.

Yeah, I sincerely don't understand why people keep buying these games. Bioware massacred all the gameplay elements that actually made the game special.

Because the playerbase moves to the latest game on release and the multiplayer of the older games stops being fun because it's exclusively tryhards.

Kind of. When I like a new game I have a tendency to obsessively play it until I burn myself out, take a break, and forget it exists and never finish. Makes the prospect of playing long rpg's both exhausting and tough.

I feel this way as well. I always like the idea of playing it more than I like the actual experience. I really appreciate that it's a complex well written and executed story, but I would rather watch a stream of someone playing it than actually play through it myself.

This happens with a lot of really good crpg's too for me and it really bums me out. I'm probably just weird though.

Idk man, you do have to know subgenres on some level even if it's just vibes based. I have to know enough to communicate that I like Trance and Progressive but fucking hate Drums and Bass(liquid is okay though I guess) at least.

Just going to leave this here.

What does real opsec look like? Knowing that you are being surveilled when you use any electronic device and not saying things that could incriminate you. Treat electronic devices like you are in a public space

This the the unfortunate reality that most privacy focused individuals inevitably realize as they narrow down their threat model.

The lengths that you need to go to to even attempt to have true anonymity are intensely identifying in and of themself because you will be an exceptionally unique user. It's the same fallacy as burning your fingerprints off and it makes you more uniquely recognizable than before under scrutiny.

I never had good luck with an electric razor, but a standard 5 blade replaceable razor head has been effective for me because it contours to my legs better. You still need to replace the blades every other week or so depending on how often you shave though so it can be a bit expensive.

I have moderately thick and curly hair and I used to get horrible irritation and ingrown hairs on my thighs after shaving. The most life-changing thing for me in terms of relieving this was to pick up a glycolic acid chemical exfoliator. I use it once a night before bed and I get almost no irritation or ingrowns any more. This was the brand that came highly recommended. If you're NA you can pick it up at any ULTA for like $10.

It sticks out so much too because the entire arc is like three times longer than any other storyline in the series. Then like 80% of it is just waiting patiently for Bug-Cell to be born so they can beat him up. Then the series just ends a few episodes after.

Definitely not just you. I did men's track/cross-country and the shorts were always so awkward to wear because they were basically sexy booty shorts.