I think so, yes. I think the Earth would generally be a better place if we had never evolved.

I actually really liked the setting and artstyle, but god yeah I do not understand why that combat system needed to be the way it was. It put me off playing the sequel, because I just didn’t want to suffer through the most godawful shooting combat of any game I’ve played this decade for another 40 hours.

Wasn’t this the same studio who gave us Max Payne? How have they been making third person shooters for like two decades and still mess it up?

I know the natural explanation is coincidence, but those etsy witches cursed Charlie Kirk and he died only like a week or two later. I like to believe magic does exist.

Hell, my body started calling in the loan when I was just 23. Feels like I’ll be stuck with many years of suffering

No, not at all like COVID. Don’t confuse ignorance for malice. The issue with COVID was skeptics who only consumed right-wing propoganda downplaying the severity of the virus. There were no skeptics in the Corrupted Blood incident, people were maliciously trying to spread the virus knowing that it would kill other people.

everyone always overexaggerates how useful the incident was to epidemiologists. It was certainly an interesting novelty, and some cool studies were produced, but the issue was that there weren’t actually consequences for bad actors. It’s a lot harder for assholes to willingly catch a disease with the goal of spreading it when that disease can actually kill them.

I’m more miffed that they never figured out a way to rerun the event for WoW Classic, if even for only 24 hours.

You’ll never actually get studies “proving” this in a scientific sense, unfortunately, because there’s really no way to design an ethical experiment. You can’t force one group to take homeopathic treatments vs another group receiving medical care, just as you can’t force one group to take vaccines while another doesn’t.

That being said, there are longitudinal studies demonstrating the rates of autism amongst vaccinated individuals and I wouldn’t be surprised if someone had done a similar study regarding medical outcomes for people who take homeopathic treatments. It’s just that scientists will never call that “proof” because the bar is very high, and media will always conflate that with “the jury is still out who knows what’s right” because they’re profit hungry bastards.

That’s a fair difference, but do you think the controversy wouldn’t exist if there was the same degree of separation? I’m pretty sure people would take umbrage with the comedians at the festival as long as it was hosted in Saudia Arabia, irregardless of who ultimately pays for it.

I can’t help but feel like a lot of the controversy is fueled by Islamaphobia. Like, would anyone be caring if these comics were going to a Budapest comedy festival? Hell, the United States is currently killing citizens, but I’ve not seen any pushback regarding any American comedy festivals. It just seems strange that the autocratic nation critics seem to have the most issues with happens to be Middle-Eastern.

Personally, I’m in the same boat as you. Saudia Arabia has already stepped in to help prop up too much of the media my parents help produce, and it’d be hypocritical of me to claim that this festival is a bridge too far.

I really, truly, seriously hate modern implementations of AI and am willing to make concessions in my life to avoid using it. Windows 11 forcing Copilot was my last straw for using Microsoft.

I honestly love that we’ve all agreed to misattribute this relationship of triangles to Pythagoreas, because it’s meant future generations keep learning about Greece’s greatest crackhead.

Except the issue is that they were participating, and the ratchet effect happened anyway.

From my experiences working third-party and leftist campaigns over the years, this is a really common story. A lot of people have burned out on voting and activism because they have done it and seen it not accomplish anything in the U.S.

Oh I see, you were just being pedantic for no reason.

FIFA 2026 just came out four days ago, so I’m pretty sure they still make it.

stupid? nonono, I’m da giant cat that makes all of da rulez.

They already do, the only difference is now the slop will be made by AI instead of underpaid developers in Romania.

I mean… you’re talking about the company that makes billions of dollars a year on FIFA games, which are already only one step removed from AI slop. I don’t seriously think EA’s customer base will care; the quality of the games made by EA is already low enough that I don’t believe the use of AI will move the needle. And honestly, will anyone care if it’s AI updating the rosters and title to FIFA 26? I guess I feel bad for the working devs putting food on their table, but is that the job that want?

Cool, hope they get treated just as nicely as all those studios EA acquired throughout the years.

Love the idea that twinks aren’t also muscle hunks. You think the male body just does that? Unless you’re genetically gifted or under 21, expect to put in a lot of gym hours, because if you wanna lose serious weight without gaining muscularture you’re in for a shitton of cardio and dieting.

Been playing some Path of Exile 2. Had two misfires because the first character I created made me feel physically ill to play, and the second just wasn’t very fun due to mechanical quirks. The third time has been the charm though, and I’ve actually been having a good time playing the endgame. I still dunno if I’d recommend it for general audiences yet, but if you’re a PoE1 player and got a key for free, it’s finally worth checking out.