Leaderboard

With testing this time: Well, that is underwhelming. Guess that's one generation I'll be sitting out then. Especially since there are rumors now that the other LGA 1851 CPU generations have been scrapped. Pity, I was looking forward to Arrow Lake, but that gaming performance is just, uhm... not good, and I really don't need the productivity gains, and as Steve puts it, even with gaming as a full time job, which I don't do obviously, it will take years to get the price difference in with the lower power draw. edit: weird though, looking at the released benchmark scores on other reviews, the single thread and multithread performance of Arrow Lake in e.g. Cinebench outclasses everything by a more than decent margin, it just translates into no gains or even worse performance in gaming. Guess that makes Cinebench and other synthetic benchmarks either worthless, or something else is not quite right. Bizarre, at any rate. Especially that performance drop in Cyberpunk 2077, where it is slower than a freaking 12600K. edit2: In der8auer's German video, he gets completely different results from Hardware Unboxed with Cyberpunk, where the 285K is behind the 14900K, but still ahead of the 9950X (and obviously behind the 7800X3D, but that much was to be expected anyway).

No no, you go to Vegas to get Int bonus from the surgeon, to maximize skill points gained during the game. 🤓

Salem's Lot (2024) I think this is like the third one and it's in the genre of "ancient evil comes to a small town and gets killed after terrorizing the townsfolk". For me it wasn't bad.....it was boring. Generic and forgettable with packaged horror movie scares. I will probably remember nothing of it within a week. I think you're the fifth or sixth person to reccomend this to me, and I've decided to catch it this weekend.

Know the xeno, kill the xeno

I assumed that we are not to be fighting Deathclaws, cazadors and other critters that serve as roadblocks any time soon, because we're talking here exactly about how to sneak around them, no? But regular mooks, including Legion retribution squads, are all doable.

Nah, you'll be fine, just not overpowered enough to facetank perhaps. I usually go North via dodge-the-Cazador route and it's way more fun this way, you have to utilize whatever you have in your inventory. I once went to Lonesome Road on hardest difficulty at something like level 8. It was very immersive.

Yes, it's an interesting experiment, but I don't think that it's feasible in the actual game. Unless you fight singular tough enemies - then the stone, rod and chain could actually be useful, especially on Essential Phantoms/Dichotomous Soul or even Living Illusions (from cloak). The spell effects (and also the rod with Blast) are easy to apply. The Ring, too - but it comes pretty late if you don't tackle BoW early. A Sorcerer can do Chillfog/Curse of Blackened Sight + Tanglefoot/Binding Web + Blizzard + Arduous Delay pretty early all on their own. And with Cat Flurry also cast those very quickly. That's already a very cool combination for a multiclass that already has much other things to offer. I mean just paralyzing/stunning enemies is obviously more impactful - but those effects usually don't last that long and sometimes there's immunity/resistance.

I have decided to buy Dark Messiah M&M and UnderRail I have only heard good things about both these games. I am going to play Dark Messiah first and then UnderRail UnderRail really seems to be what I enjoy around exploration and open world and I always appreciate post-apocalyptic settings like Fallout, METRO and STALKER

The Substance (2024) The film is a rather unsubtle look at Hollywood's treatment of aging women, and a more subtle (though not by much, mind you) metaphor for self-loathing and self-harm, expressed as various disorders ranging from binge eating to substance abuse. I would call it the highlight of 2024 so far, but that would be looking at it from a very limited perspective, as the only other film that came out in 2024 that I have watched is Deadpool & Wolverine, and that is not much of a film, but merely two (somewhat entertaining) hours of fanservice, which is not a very high bar to beat. Well, have you ever watched Perfect Blue and wondered how the film would be if Rumi and Mima were actually the same person, and stuck in the grind of the US entertainment industry rather than Japan's? Then wonder no more, and whatch this film. Fair warning, instead of mind games and rape you will be treated to body horror. The actual body horror in the film is not as bad as it is in many other body horror films, but the sound effects are certainly disgusting. In a way that makes it worse. The film is garish sensory overload, both visually and audially, and certainly knows how to amp up one's misophonia. Whether it is shrimp being eaten or the very frequent sound effect that accompanies a needle being inserted into a body (funny how that works, since that makes no noticable sound in real life), it just frequently makes one's skin crawl (or have involuntary muscle spasms, in my case). On visual side there is the set design, the costumes and clothing, the camera work, the extended and extreme use of close ups, the juxtaposition of old age and youth and most importantly the framing that keeps one on edge, never being truly comfortable while watching. There are segments of this film that pander to the male gaze to the point they become softcore erotica, but the scenes purposefully lack any of the appeal. Instead, all you can do, is feel sorry for the protagonist of the film, Elizabeth and Sue, and her way of continually denigrating and debasing herself for fame, glory and acceptance. Will she respect the balance, or will her self-destructive tendencies and self-loathing give rise to the monster within? Watch it and find out. Gets a recommendation for @PK htiw klaw eriF. Very likely to be way too uncomfortable to watch for @Bartimaeus.

I tested Wildstrike Frenzy, and it stacks with the other spell effects. Everything together caused even the enemy attack animations to be hilariously slow, but of course this isn't a self contained synergy anymore since you'd need another character for the wizard side. With Elric Galad's BPM mod though this character is really nice, since the Wildstrike proc was changed to be on crit rather than on kill, while also providing a +2 frost PL bonus. I'm also fairly certain there's a display bug with blizzard. The spell description says it's a 20% action speed debuff, which is also what is listed under a character's active effects, but the actual debuff is 25% when looking at the attack/cast speed and recovery time on weapons and spells. A trio of this druid, a monk using Dichotomous Soul using the amulet, ring and armor, plus a wizard with the rod and Phantom would probably be equivalent to freezing time for the enemies. I'm not sure how to calculate the total value, but in theory I think the total you could get is: Action Speed: -33% (Arduous delay), -25% (Blizzard), -20% (Wildstrike Frenzy), -30% (Two max stacks of Rod of the Deep Hunter, with wizard Phantom), -30% (3 Sisyfo's Stone, monk summon), -21% (3 Finality's Claim, monk summon), -15% (any dexterity affliction) Recovery Time: +50% (blinded), +45% (3 Magnera's Chain, monk summon) Maybe even using Frostfall with Dispersed Suffering on the monk to increase slow durations and for the ice theme. With BPM, Unbroken also applies a 15% action speed penalty to engaged enemies instead of the AR boost. If solo sorcerer though, I agree the items would probably be more trouble than they're worth other than the rod and ring. Edit: Monks actually get two summons, oops. It would be near impossible to maximize the stacks from the armor and amulet in practice probably.

I'm like a dozen hours in, and still didn't join one. Couldn't decide yet (but I think I've made my decision). 😄 Even got a super high level weapon in my pockets by luring a guy LEAGUES above my level in front of a camps' guards and looting him after they had ripped him. Don't have the required attributes to use it though, for which you eventually have to join a faction. Exploration is so much fun, it's a joy (and clearly the biggest strength). Lots of biomes, even some early game critters appear later with a "twist". Optional caves, lore pieces, etc. Plus night time in the woods or exploring caves and mines can be even a little creepy, the sound design sells a lot of that. Got robbed blind by a bunch of bandits though in the woods more recent. They beat me into unconscious and took like half my money. Ooooof. Playing the Iron mode that only updates one (auto-)save. So whenever **** happens, it happens (except for game overs, of course). I wanted it that way. 😄 I know where the ****ers are hiding now though. Just you wait when I got my faction gear and armor. JUST YOU ****ERS WAIT. 😄 That said, I recently watched somebody playing with the player position showing on the map enabled. I actually think this spoils the (intended) experience. Tbh, I didn't even buy the more detailed world map and still own the one that Asmus haphazardly draws for you in the beginning...

Don't play Drova then. It's not just the main plot, but so much of your power is locked behind joining a faction, you want to do it ASAP. As for FNV, you could just walk past the deathclaws north of the starting town, if you kept to the hills on the eastern side of the track. If you climb a bit high, the deathclaws can't reach you. No particular need for exploits.

I think not - because DS cannot use the rod. Phantom would have rod, stone and chain while DS could have 2*stone and 2*chain - but they would need to get hit or even crit to apply the effect. rod is easier: just shoot. By the way: I forgot that Greater Wildstrike Freeze does -20% Action Speed to enemies, too. 🤔 If this stacks with Blizzard etc. a Wizard/Druid who casts Chillfog+Blizzard+Arduous Delay and also uses Phantom with rod, stone and chain could slow down single enemies (bosses) a lot and multiple enemies considerably. I will try this a bit Edit: oops, that was Wildstrike Frenzy, not Greater Wildstrike - nevermind. 🥴 Edit2: tried a bit, I think the items are not worth it compared to the spells. The combo of Chillfog, Blizzard and Arduous Delay alone is already having a significant impact on mobs' action speed and recovery. You can of course use the rod + modal afterwards to add more sluggishness if you don't want to use Wildstrike (Cat Flurry) or when it's over, but using a Phantom and getting hit feels too gimmicky imo. Very good thing about this spell combo is that all those spells are rel. low tier. Edit3: Finality's Claim with Time Dilation III (-7% Action speed to all around when engaged) could be worth a Phantom in combo with the stone and the chain maybe. While oneself is using Spiritshift (you'd have to summon the Phantom before shifting though - esle it has a hide, not a chain ;)).

Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense. Because it's still an awesome concert/stage/performance piece. Of course, one has to like Talking Heads music. Which I do. Some of his dance moves, however, seem even more oddball/amusing today than it did back then. 😅

The local grocery stores and super markets sell shrink packed rubber mats. Looks like rubber mats, feels like rubber mats, tastes like rubber mats (don't ask). Problem is, they sell those rubber mats pretending they are "naan bread" 😖 Decided to try my hand at making my own for my curry chicken... cut a few corners by buying a herb mix to add to flour, yeast and Greek yogurt. The first few were for the rubbish bin, badly burnt, but eventually I got the hang of it. Making them deliberately "small", because I'm a single house hold and the leftovers have to fit in a container in the fridge 😝 The gross looking stuff in the large pot is just the curry, having added tamarind puree and coconut milk, but not stirred it yet (watching the naan bread on the pan like a hawk, needs flipping every 30 seconds to avoid burning) The end result was decent enough thought 😋

America is has been involved in many wars over the last century, so there's a segment of the population that is very familiar; I'd say more so than most nations. What we haven't experienced is what war does to the civilian population.