@grissallia@aus.social
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grissallia

@grissallia@aus.social

I’m just a girl, standing in front of the internet, asking it to love her.

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grissallia, to random
@grissallia@aus.social avatar

You have got to be fucking kidding me.

I read it, I read it again, I wondered why Ticketek had sent an email to an address that I didn't have registered with them.

Then it clicked... not just Ticketmaster, Ticketek too. Apparently they had credit cards encrypted.

grissallia, to random
@grissallia@aus.social avatar

I cannot emphasise enough how untrustworthy LLM-based AI is, and how much harder it's going to make life.

I asked Windows Copilot for instructions on how to uninstall Windows Copilot.

Almost everything it advised was incorrect. This is working with a system I know.

What if I asked it how to do something I didn't know about?

I told Copilot that it was greyed out, and it gave me further incorrect instructions that include right-clicking on the Copilot icon in the taskbar (which does nothing) and going to taskbar settings. Once in taskbar settings (by clicking on the taskbar!), you can disable Copilot. It then reiterates the earlier uninstall instructions and tells you to "Click on Uninstall (even if it's greyed out)." and this does absolutely nothing. At all.

decryption, to random
@decryption@aus.social avatar

telstra 1 hour ago "we will call you back in 30 minutes with an unlock code"

grissallia,
@grissallia@aus.social avatar

@decryption @shlee ah shit, may the wind be at your back.

grissallia, to random
@grissallia@aus.social avatar

Part of the reason I feel like I’ve been ratcheting is that I’ve spent a chunk of the past fortnight working in an aged care facility, and it’s been like sandpaper on my soul.

This is one of the better companies, and isn’t a dig on them, so much as how we as a society treat people at the end of their lives.

About the “balancing act” of for-profit companies extracting the maximum that they can from residents and their families to provide a “return” to shareholders, while trying to work out what the bare minimum services they can provide to those same residents are.

While the staff are literally overworked and underpaid for dealing with some of the worst literal shit you can’t even imagine.

grissallia, to random
@grissallia@aus.social avatar

What’ll really bake your noodle is when you realise how much DARVO is not just weaponised by angry men, but it’s been built into the structure of society.

It’s not that corporations spent decades colluding to bury the evidence of climate change, it’s that you don’t recycle enough.

It’s not that companies have repeatedly cut corners & staff to increase profits, and C-suite salaries, it’s that you don’t work hard enough to justify a salary increase.

It’s not that governments have collectively and consistently preferenced the wealthy landlord “investor” class in their policies and made housing precarious and unaffordable, it’s that you ate too much avocado toast.

It’s not that the economy is structured around having a permanently unemployed pool of people, it’s that people are lazy just don’t want to work.

grissallia,
@grissallia@aus.social avatar

It’s not that dental care is unaffordable, it’s just that I prioritised keeping a roof over my family’s head, and food on the table, in a single income household, over getting dental work done. I brought it on myself.

grissallia, to random
@grissallia@aus.social avatar

Neurodivergent life is asking what to do in detail, putting in maximum effort doing that.

Then being told you did it wrong and/or you should have tried harder, over and over until you die.

nocontexttrek, to random
@nocontexttrek@mastodon.social avatar

#ISeeThatYourSchwartzIsAsBigAsMine

grissallia,
@grissallia@aus.social avatar

@nocontexttrek [alt text Chef's kiss]

grissallia, to random
@grissallia@aus.social avatar

Bought a smart plug on Amazon last yesterday and installed it this morning. Outside. For the gas heater.

Which now regularly fails to turn on, and has had a technician out twice.

Last time the tech came out, he told me to let the agent know if the issue was resolved, and he’d come back the next day if not.

Agent doesn’t answer phone. Agent doesn’t answer emails. Agent’s phone now redirects to a full voicemail box, and cannot accept messages.

So I’ve bought a smart plug so I can power cycle the gas heater from inside the house during winter. Woke up to 15C inside the house this morning, but it’s been as low as 12C inside some nights.

It was 5C outside this morning as I stood outside and manually power cycled the gas heater at 5:30am.

(Heater will attempt to fire up three times, and if it doesn’t light, will switch itself off, requiring a manual hard reset).

grissallia,
@grissallia@aus.social avatar

I'm effectively trying to use tech to work around a fault.

I'm wondering if I can get some sort of smart thermometer for inside the house that if it drops to a certain temperature inside, it can trigger the smart switch to turn off, wait 60 seconds, and turn back on again.

grissallia, to random
@grissallia@aus.social avatar

I’m not saying it’s definitely a kidney stone, but I’m pretty sure it’s a kidney stone.

tillybridges, to random
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i was gonna go on a rant about this until realizing paladin/bard actually sums me up way too well 😶

grissallia,
@grissallia@aus.social avatar

@tillybridges TILLY WHERE IS THE LINK?

grissallia, to coffee
@grissallia@aus.social avatar

Was trying to work out why my #coffee was taking so long to brew. See if you can troubleshoot the problem…

grissallia, to random
@grissallia@aus.social avatar

Our 11yo, as we got back into the car after his swimming lesson:

Him: “You know, I thought you’d be invisible.”
Me: “uhhhh, what?”
Him: “Well, because you’re a trans-parent.”

Reader, I howled with laughter.

grissallia, to random
@grissallia@aus.social avatar

Not enough people.
People.
Enough people.
No more people.
Too much people.
>Way too much people.

Close to blue-screening and I've got two more days of this.

grissallia,
@grissallia@aus.social avatar

I am Not OK.

I cannot explain why I am Not OK, because I cannot find the words to explain why I am Not OK, particularly in a way that neurotypicals could understand and find acceptable.

I have commitments and responsibilities and demands on my time that have reached the point that I "should" be able to cope, if I was neurotypical.

I will grind out the next two days, and then my weekend will be a write off.

Then I'm into another on-call week, which is this, but on steroids.

grissallia, to gaming
@grissallia@aus.social avatar

I'm not one for "New Year's resolutions", but I am one for overly ambitious projects.

For 2023, Project365 is "One New Game Per Day".

Given that I have 634 unplayed games in my Steam account and {mumble} unredeemed bundle Steam keys, there's a reason my unplayed collection is tagged "Pile of Shame".

I'll pin this to my profile, and give a brief summary here each day (or x, if I miss x days due to work or stuff).

I'll play 15-30 minutes of (at least) one new game I've never played before (or played less than 15 minutes of). I'll give every game at least 15 minutes, even if I hate every minute of it.

I'm also open to suggestions; if you reply to this thread with a game, I'll schedule it, or tell you what I thought of it.

One of the things that's come up is that I have a bunch of games that I've played once, and not touched again.

Unplayed games: #NewPlay
Trying a game again: #RePlay
Going live on Twitch: #GrissGames

I'll hashtag these with #Project365ONG so you can mute it if you're not interested.

#Project365 #Gaming

grissallia,
@grissallia@aus.social avatar

April 4, 2024 - Day 460
April 5, 2024 - Day 461

No NewPlay Reviews

Total NewPlays: 488

grissallia,
@grissallia@aus.social avatar

April 6, 2024 - Day 462 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 489

Game: The Callisto Protocol

Platform: Steam
Released: Dec 2, 2022
Installed: Apr 6, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 34m

The Callisto Protocol is the second game in the April Humble Choice Bundle; it's a third-person narrative-driven survival horror game.

I went into it knowing it's classed as a survival horror game, and a great demonstration of why I try to go into these game without knowing what kind of game I'm getting into.

I don't like "survival horror" games as a category. But there are "SURVIVAL horror" games, and "survival HORROR" games. Outlast is an example of the former, The Callisto Protocol is an example of the latter (at least so far?).

Horror games take me places that feel too close to emotional spaces that aren't good for me; I'm not good with that kind of fear-based adrenaline. Occasionally, though, it's doable.

I found the first half hour relatively... OK. You play as Jacob Lee, a poor victim of "names pulled from a hat".

After the intro, the camera pans forward to the cockpit of a ship, and you come face to face with good old Kirkland-brand Timothy Olyphant, Josh Duhamel.

Voiceover and mocap work was done by Josh Duhamel, with the apparent antagonist played by Karen Fukuhara, best known as Kimiko Miyashiro from The Boys.

However, when Sam Witwer shows up soon after, it becomes clear who the real bad guy of the piece is. The fact your first interaction with him is him throwing your innocent character into a maximum security off-world prison is pretty much a "I don't know what I expected moment".

What these actors bring to the game is a sense of this being more than just another survival horror shooter, a game that might actually be serious about its narrative intentions. Whether they can pull it off, I have yet to find out.

In terms of gameplay so far, I was intrigued enough to keep playing, in spite of my nerves. There are a couple of things about the game that make me uneasy.

I don't mind a bit of gore, but The Callisto Protocol is a gorefest. Which brings me to the other thing. You don't just loot bodies in The Callisto Protocol (you little murder hobo), you actually need to perform a "corpse stomp" on them for them to give up their shinies.

That just feels a bit gratuitous.

The graphics and sound design create an incredible atmosphere, and if I'm in the right mood, I might end up trying to escape from Callisto.

The Callisto Protocol seems:

4: Good

grissallia,
@grissallia@aus.social avatar

April 7, 2024 - Day 463 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 490

Game: HUMANKIND

Platform: Steam
Released: Aug 18, 2021
Installed: Apr 7, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 23m

Humble really decided to lean into the strategy games this month, with the third game in the bundle being HUMANKIND. It's a hex-tile based 4X strategy game.

It does a lot of things in a strategy game that Victoria 3 doesn't, which gave me a considerably easier on-ramp.

It purports to allow you to progress from a hunter-gatherer tribes, all the way to a space-faring society, but I didn't get that far in 23 minutes.

It could just have been because I was tired, I just didn't quite connect with it, and I don't really have much more to say about it.

I'll possibly poke it again, but it does feel a lot like Civilisation in some ways, and if I wanted to play a game that felt like Civilisation, I'd just play Civilisation.

The version of the game included in the bundle is the definitive edition, so you immediately have all of the DLC expansions right there, but I'm not sure I'll ever get that far.

HUMANKIND is:

3: OK

#HUMANKIND #HexTile #Strategy #HumbleChoice #Gaming #ProjectONG

grissallia,
@grissallia@aus.social avatar

April 7, 2024 - Day 463 - NewPlay Bonus Review
Total NewPlays: 491

Game: Techtonica

Platform: XBox Game Pass UItimate
Released: Aug 16, 2023
Installed: Apr 7, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 11h6m

Techtonica is not in the Humble Bundle. If it was, I'd be torn between yelling "BUY IT IMMEDIATELY", and "RUN AWAY, SAVE YOURSELF!"

It's a first person factory automation adventure game set on an alien planet. It's not Factorio, because it's first-person, and it's got an actual narrative built into the game, instead of tacked on as an afterthought.

You're a "breaker", who's been woken up from artificial hibernation, because something has gone in this mission to colonise an alien planet.

The design and lighting and music are all utterly gorgeous, and I wish I'd never met it.

GG.deals had a link to Pacific Drive on special (that I can't afford), and when I clicked through to look at the pricing, I saw Techtonica in a bundle with Pacific Drive (that I also couldn't afford), and I went back to GG.deals, to discover it's included in XBGU (oh no).

I lovehate factory automation games. I own several of them, and I shouldn't play them.

My theory is that they scratch that DEEP itch for systemisation that my autistic brain loves so much. I have lost entire days of my life in this kind of game.

What Techtonica does, however, is that it ties the narrative progression to the in-game tech-tree progression, and producing enough widgets to open the next level of the tech tree and find out more of the story.

I barely moved all day. I barely ate. I managed to drink a little bit of water here and there, but I was fundamentally staring at the screen for 11 hours straight.

They built a damn Skinner box that was specifically tuned for my brain, and I locked myself inside.

This game is a dopamine-hit nightmare, and I love it, but I'm not sure if it's healthy for me to keep playing it, because it verges on "addictive" territory for me.

I hate to say it, but I must; escape while you still can, don't do what I did, because Techtonica is:

5: Excellent

#Techtonica #FirstPerson #FactoryAutomation #Adventure #Gaming #ProjectONG

grissallia,
@grissallia@aus.social avatar

April 8, 2024 - Day 464 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 492

Game: Fashion Police Squad

Platform: Steam
Released: Aug 16, 2022
Installed: Apr 8, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 16m

Fashion Police Squad (FPS) is a retro 3D first person shooter (FPS) and marks a change in pace, for game four in the April Humble Choice Bundle

As Sergeant Des of the Fashion Police, you patrol the streets putting an end to fashion crimes.

I swear I am not making this up.

Initially armed only with your trusty 2DYE4 gun, you shoot the boring grey-scale 2D business-sprites, with fashion, taking them from drab to fab!

As you move through the game, you unlock more weapons; unlike most boomer shooters, you need to match the correct "weapon" to the fashion crime.

Overall, it's pretty goofy, but it plays the concept straight, and it's kind of fun. I'm incredibly amused that it's in the same bundle as The Callisto Protocol, but I'm glad that I didn't try to play them back to back, because the mood whiplash might have killed me.

Fashion Police Squad is a groovy:

3: OK

#FashionPoliceSquad #3D #FPS #BoomerShooter #HumbleChoice #Gaming #ProjectONG

grissallia,
@grissallia@aus.social avatar

April 9, 2024 - Day 465 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 493

Game: Terraformers

Platform: Steam
Released: Mar 10, 2023
Installed: Apr 9, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 1h34m

Game number five in this month's Humble Choice Bundle is Terraformers. It's a "turn-based colony builder and resource management game with roguelike elements", built around an Earth expedition to terraform Mars.

You start with a single base, and need to explore and colonise various areas of the planet, gathering a whole load of different resources, which in turn pay for the various "research projects" that are delivered in a roguelike card-shuffle each turn.

Some turn-based games could be categorised as "just one more turn" games. Those games in which you're so deeply engrossed, that you look up, and the sun is coming up, and you need to call in sick so you can get some sleep, and then play for the rest of the day.

The key to those games is that they're scratching a particular itch, in an enjoyable and satisfying way. There's a constant series of build-ups then payoffs, and the effort->reward loop keeps those sweet dopamine hits coming at the right intervals.

I think this is why an integrated and well-planned narrative is so important; that's frequently the key to the payoffs.

Terraformers prods at the same territory, without delivering on the same satisfaction. I clocked out at just over 90 minutes, and just felt frustrated.

At the start of the game, you're presented with a choice of two leaders. Each leader has three skills, and a permanent buff. That bit's critical, because after each in-game year, you have to select a replacement leader.

I get why it's done from a gameplay mechanics perspective, but it feels like it repeatedly broke my sense of connection with the colony.

The game sets itself up as an "ancestors planting a tree" kind of story. It makes it clear that the colonists are doing this with the realisation that they'll never enjoy the fruits of their labour. I think that might be one of the key problems with the game.

I understand that the in-game population is building towards a long term goal with little short-term payoff, but the player needs some short-term payoffs, or else it feels more like a job than a game.

On top of everything else, Terraformers gives the population a hedonic adaptation loop. As they game goes on, it requires an increasing amount of effort to keep them happy, as they adapt to life on Mars.

With the repeated loop of disconnection, the cost of research projects grinding upwards and needing more resources, and the population becoming increasingly demanding, I eventually just tapped out.

Terraformers has some interesting ideas, but ultimately it felt like the gameplay was a lot of effort for little reward, and left me feeling pretty:

2: Meh

grissallia,
@grissallia@aus.social avatar

April 10, 2024 - Day 466 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 494

Game: Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga

Platform: Steam
Released: Jun 11, 2022
Installed: Apr 10, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 25m

Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga is a JRPG-inspired pixel-art turn-based tactics RPG. Number six in the April Humble Choice Bundle.

Sometimes, if you can't say something nice about something, better not to say anything at all.

Did I enjoy it? No. Am I the target market for Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga?

1: Nope

#SymphonyOfWarTheNephiliSaga #TurnBased #PixelArt #Tactics #JRPG #HumbleChoice #Gaming #ProjectONG

grissallia,
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April 11, 2024 - Day 467 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 495

Game: Coromon

Platform: Steam
Released: Apr 1, 2022
Installed: Apr 11, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 17m

Coromon is a top-down pixel-art ... Pokemon clone. I'm sorry, it's a Pokemon clone, and I'm not even going to try and pretend it isn't.

Seventh game in the April Humble Bundle, and if I wanted to play Pokemon, I'd play Pokemon.

Which is the problem with this game, because I don't want to play Pokemon.

Can I get back the 17 minutes of my life I spent playing Coromon?

1: Nope

#Coromon #PixelArt #NotPokemon #HumbleChoice #Gaming #ProjectONG

grissallia,
@grissallia@aus.social avatar

April 12, 2024 - Day 468 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 496

Game: The Excavation of Hob's Barrow

Platform: Steam
Released: Sep 8, 2022
Installed: Apr 11, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 27m

The Excavation of Hob's Barrow is the eighth and final game in April's Humble Choice Bundle. It's a 2.5D pixel-art point-and-click horror adventure set in Victorian England.

You play as Thomasina Bateman, a grave-robber... sorry, "barrow-digger", who's been asked to come to a small village in rural England to excavate a barrow (a large, round, ancient grave).

When she arrives by train in the village of Bewley, the man she's there to meet is nowhere to be found, and the locals claim to know nothing of the site known as "Hob's Barrow", with the mystery unfolding from there.

In this case, the narrative does lift the game above my resistance to pixel-art games, but it's definitely a game I'd need to be in the mood for.

The Excavation of Hob's Barrow is:

3: OK

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