[-] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 3 points 5 hours ago

You are absolutely right. And even if they only end up charging some random lieutenant at the bottom of the chain, it will send a message to the rest of the troops that they will not be protected from the consequences of their actions.

[-] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 9 points 2 weeks ago

Steam's business model does prevent it from pricing its consoles like Sony, Xbox, Nintendo, etc. since they need the console itself to be profitable, not just a means of bringing in games sales.

It's plausible that they're taking into account an uptick in overall game sales from this console - at least for me, I've been purchasing new games mostly off of steam rather than playstation/nintendo ever since I got a steamdeck - but you're right that they aren't going to sell at a loss.

Regardless of the price (and whether or not I even buy one), I think it's healthy to have another "big" player in the console market.

[-] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 7 points 3 weeks ago

Yep. There are people who can vote who were born after Portal came out XD

[-] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 12 points 4 weeks ago

We are living in great times for small studio and indie games!

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submitted 4 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by UltraMagnus@startrek.website to c/games@lemmy.world

I'm thinking 2015 - Witcher 3, Undertale, and Kerbal Space Program are all classics. Fallout 4, Arkham Knight, and Cities Skylines were all excellent too, though fallout 4 and Arkham knight aren't necessarily the best games in their respective series.

[-] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 13 points 4 weeks ago

It has a little more gameplay than past telltale games with its dispatch sections (a bit of strategy, deciding which heroes go on what calls), but otherwise you are right, it's a fancy choose your own adventure game. They have done some interesting things with superhero tropes so far (e.g., superheroes working out of a corporate call center), but it's a bit early to tell if they'll subvert some of my expectations for the "final boss".

175

I've been enjoying Dispatch so far, and the sales numbers seem well deserved. I know a few people waiting for all the episodes to be outbefore they buy it, though (final episode is out Nov 12).

If you liked the telltale games you will like dispatch.

[-] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 8 points 4 weeks ago

As this continues, I would highly recommend folks support their local food pantries as they are able. Cash is better, but there's nothing wrong with a food drive to collect cans from your neighbors. Some pantries also accept fresh produce, if you have some left from your garden this year.

[-] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 10 points 1 month ago

Hey man, the playing-pinball-while-a-cat-interferes peertube community is very close-knit (https://video.apz.fi/).

I kid, but it's true that peertube lacks the dopamine hooks and variety that youtube does. It's much harder to sink hours into watching a bunch of videos that you'll only half remember by the next day.

[-] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 16 points 1 month ago

"Staying peaceful" and "fighting back" aren't mutually exclusive. Anyone who thinks nonviolent tactics don't work hasn't read up on their history (East Timor, Philippines, etc.). Every time ICE shows up to pepper spray cops and shoot at priests, local police gets more pissed, and they drive a wedge between local and federal law enforcement, weakening the administration's ability to project power. Don't underestimate that opportunity.

That being said, current actions are far more symbolic than transformative. No kings protests don't do anything on their own, but could easily be leveraged into an enabler of things like boycotts and general strikes which will have a strong impact.

2

I learned about it from the unforgotten realms forums, around 2012ish

[-] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 8 points 1 month ago

When google shoves their ai to the top of search results, its hard not to read it. I've been spoiled by ublock and I am no longer used to ignoring the first few things that come up.

[-] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 10 points 1 month ago

Ah, but they were wearing a bright yellow vest! Be honest - would you think twice if you saw someone wearing a safety yellow vest and carrying a drill? Apparently there was construction going on nearby as well, so the basket lift didn't really stand out.

4

ICNC has a lot of good resources on nonviolence - I like this one since it's very practical/to-the-point. Really liking the section talking about "pulling out" the pillars of support rather than "pushing into" the pillars.

12

One of the shorter presentations at FediCon, but definitely interesting, especially since lemmy instances are very much driven by the user base (whereas Linux doesn't really change based on how many users there are). Also interesting since the speaker, Janet Vertesi, is one of the people working on the "Europa Clipper" project (the one where we're flying a satellite through Europa's geysers to get water samples, since landing and drilling under the ice is impractical. This has nothing to do with the presentation, I'm just excited about it).

Video Highlights:

2:00 - The current dominance of a few social media companies was predicted. Although there are lots of neat tools for opting out of Microsoft/Google/etc., but it's the community of these tools that matters

7:30 - Difficulties with how entangled folks are with mainstream tools (maps, calendars, clubs, etc.) - and how to overcome these obstacles. Interesting bit about how all the privacy toggles on Facebook, etc. give a false sense of security and discourage users from making bigger, more effective change. Additionally, behavior change happens at the group level, not the individual level.

12:00 - Building a network of "Tech Reclaimers" to help others make the change. Teaching social and technical skills (e.g., moderation - people are used to the technology doing everything for them on "traditional" social media), taking small steps, etc.

17:30 - Ongoing events

[-] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 64 points 3 months ago

The assumption that you'll lose a lawsuit against a large corporation probably stops a lot of viable lawsuits from ever happening - good for him for giving it a go.

[-] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 18 points 3 months ago

One of the factors in whether a nonviolent resistance movement can succeed or not is whether any state forces end up shifting loyalty. "Appealing to the moral sense of the people oppressing them" may be false if you're just talking about whoever's at the top, but it absolutely is a factor for the day-to-day bureaucrats and security forces. Nonviolent campaigns are more likely to cause these sorts of changes (particularly when violent crackdowns against nonviolent resistance backfires).

Consider the success of the following movements:

  • Peoples Power Revolution (First one in 1986) - several military leaders defected from the Marcos regime
  • Velvet Revolution (1989) - had several government officials defect
  • Malagasy Political Crisis (2002) - Defense minister resigned, generals and military officers were split on who to support (source for this one, since the article is hard to find). In fairness, although this one would largely be classified as nonviolent, at the time, it was hard to say whether or not there would be any armed conflict (aside from some incidents with police attacking protesters early in the movement)

There's several other cases of this happening over the past century, but I hope you get my point - nobody's appealing to the guy on the throne, they're appealing to all the other cogs in the machine.

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UltraMagnus

joined 3 months ago