Setting up a windows VM at my old job took like a few minutes, but I already had virtual box (I think that’s what I used)

And I needed to see some software running in a Windows box while editing the code that talked to it.

Depends on what you need to do. You could mount a folder to get files in or out, for some cases.

Have you used virtual machines before? Done software development?

You think making a VM takes two weeks? I’m pretty sure Microsoft provides images you can just pop into virtualbox, but it’s been a while since I used VMs.

Also if you need to use the windows software alongside your regular workflow (eg: reading info out of the windows software with your eyes and then typing into your IDE or terminal), rebooting the whole thing is going to suck.

Yes but if you dual boot there’s no VM needed LOL

You want to reboot the entire system when you need to use a Windows only application? Instead of just opening up a VM?

…what? How are you going to do any modern day work on the host machine with no Internet access? Are you going to air gap your windows machine?

Still happy I switched to Linux. Been playing divinity original sin 2 without any problems. (It’s one of those games I’ve started a hundred times but only finished once.)

You can restrict network access to the VM and still do normal network stuff on the host machine, for one thing.

Still happy here in Linux.

I’ve recently started to have to use Teams at work and wow it’s awful. In subtle and overt ways.

Deadfire was great. Good characters, good gameplay systems.

Loved my chanter with the heaviest armor and shield that popped out summons and sang until the enemies died. Or my cipher that would disintegrate enemies.

That’s DND 5e for you.

The designers originally wanted people to do like 5 fights per rest, but players rightfully said that kind of sucks, and they want to use their cool powers. DND designers keep trying to make this work. It’s especially bad in video games where players hate timed quests.

If they had done something like dark souls “get from here to there on one rest” it might have worked better, but that’s a much harder game.

I tried to play it with someone I was dating. She spent like an hour in the character creation menu. Had a lot of fun making her ranger look interesting. But as soon as we got to the actual gameplay, she checked out. I think we got to the druids and she was done.

Turn based I think is kind of double edged. There’s a lot of waiting, that’s bad. But you also don’t get overwhelmed when you’re trying to figure out how to move the camera or whatever.

DND 5e is a shallow system that you have to go out of your way to make a weak character. That helps. But it also makes it kind of boring for people looking for more depth.

88 is an unfortunate score.

Anyway. I haven’t played the full release, but it’s been good in early access. I think it’s a little harder than the first one

Thinking about it, it seems like the kind of wacky thing that would be on par with dwarf fort. A passion project years in the making. I doubt any big studio would go for it.

Side note, I really liked how mage: the awakening 2e did paradox. You risk more for witnesses, sure. But you mostly risk paradox for making your spells more than you can safely handle. Hubris. That’s the theme of the game.

(Further minutia details: you can make small changes to your spells magnitude or subjects, and that only risks the spell failing. But bigger changes, those require you to “reach” and that can cause paradox. make a spell last two turns instead of one? -2 dice. Or, reach, and make it last the whole scene… but maybe roll for paradox. Mind2 can’t make someone hurt themselves… unless you reach. Great system. Very fiddly. Wouldn’t play well as a real time game.)

when you play competitive games you’re expressing your skill as a player in front of an audience of people.

The first part of your post makes sense, even if I don’t agree with it. But this part stands out- buying a skin isn’t a skill question. It’s just a wallet question.

Some games have stuff you can only earn via achievements or whatever. I could see being proud of, like, a skin you only get if you get 100 perfect whatevers in a row. But, like, just buying it? But I guess the audience has enough people who are impressed by that sort of thing.

spending some money on a skin isnt a big deal you’re just paying devs for the game you love.

Also not to be a negative nerd, but unless the company is very tiny the developers aren’t getting much, maybe zero, of that money. Developers get a salary. Stock options, maybe. It’s not like a tip jar. Profits typically go to the owners under capitalism, not the labor. “Buy skins to support the developers” might be indirectly true, in a limited sense, but it mostly feels like capitalist propaganda.

I feel like no one’s going to make a good Mage game unless there’s some genuine breakthroughs in AI. It’s a very open ended system, and limiting it to pre-scripted “you can use mind-2 to persuade here” or “you can telekineticly slap someone here” would suck.

Most basic game problems just go away for mages. Just starting stats mages are a whole cut above your standard RPG protagonist. Teleport anywhere. Dominate anyone. Rewind time.

I guess. I’d rather not throw away my money, even if it’s not tight. I wouldn’t feel joy about a custom skin. Every time I saw it I would be reminded that I’d wasted money.

But that’s me, not everyone.

I feel like a game in development this long is extremely unlikely to be good.

Also I’m one of the dozens of people that liked Requiem (2e) more than Masquerade. Dozens of us!

…who is paying a million dollars for a skin??

These skins have 15% returns? That seems dubious but it could be. I don’t think you can sink $300k into skins like you can vanguard, though.