• 2 Posts
  • 19 Comments
Joined 3 years ago
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Cake day: June 8th, 2023

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  • Putin still has minions in the EU post-Orban, but no doubt the Russian position keeps getting worse and worse.

    The US no longer sends any aid to Ukraine I understand, they simply are delivering equipment that EU countries have bought on behalf of Ukraine. This was a big win for Putin, but nowhere big enough. Add in EU shell manufacturing capacity growing so fast, along with just the general revitalization of EU arms manufacturing, I think the US’ support is becoming less and less critical. Given the broad support Ukraine enjoys in the US, I would expect this to reverse in a few years, so there is another clock ticking for Russia.

    Honestly, putting myself in Putin’s shoes, it’s one of two things. First, he has so successfully insulated himself, he has no idea how things are going. Second, he’s just continuing to attack because to stop would mean his ouster and likely execution.

    So long as Russia continues the war, Putin has an easier time of fending off potential internal enemies. Thousands of ordinary Russians will suffer and many die, but that’s a sacrifice he’s willing to make to keep holding on to power.

    The longer he can hold on, the more chances subverting can change for him.






  • Did you play 1st edition, circa 1989? The original decking rules are pretty well represented in the recent Sega Shadowrun game from 1994, just a few years ago.

    It’s an entire solo dungeon sort of experience, while the rest of the group watches the decker and GM play a one on one game.

    It was radically streamlined for 2nd edition on, but it took me a while to notice, since Deckers were always NPCs and decking was just exposition for years.

    Forgive the formatting, I’m feeling fragile, probably from my advanced age.




  • Steam, GoG, Humble Bundle, and Itch are the platforms I regularly buy PC games on. By far and away, Steam is #1. It’s got the games, it’s well integrated into everything, easy to use (especially on Linux). GoG is good, although I set up Heroic to use with GoG. It’s close, but not as many games that I want, and Heroic+GoG is a little less polished than Steam. Humble Bundle and Itch are generally too niche, although so much of my Steam library has come from Humble.


  • GoG was my second digital store, I resisted Steam for so long, but over the years, Steam has become my #1 source for games. It’s just so easy, plus they are relatively consumer friendly. With the revamp of Steam Families, it’s just so so much easier to have everyone playing on Steam. Plus I have a Steam Deck.

    I try and buy games on GoG, set them up with Heroic, and it works great, better than EA, Epic and other storefronts, but just not quite as slick as Steam.

    One day St. Gabe will be martyred, and Steam will undergo the unavoidable descent into enshittification, as to will GoG. I do not pledge undying loyalty to any platform, but Steam and GoG have been awesome for so long.

    Besides, other than Itch and Humble Bundle, who even comes close in being good to use?