Texan here: we barely get to vote on shit at all. And they’re gerrymandering to make it even harder.

I’d call Texas a clown car but it’s too big to qualify.

Beans and rice is the real answer here, +1 to this

Lots of meals are cheap but few will also fill you up.

I had a Pixel on Google Fi with this. When I got a call I could tell my Pixel to answer, ask who was calling, and ask the purpose of their call. I could see their responses transcribed and press automated response buttons.

It was amazing. Not sure why other phones don’t support it, definitely a feature I miss.

I use bookmarks for that. All the browsers I use support them.

For those unaware: RSS is still a thing and still works. You don’t need fancy platforms and algorithms to follow sites that post stuff you care about. Just an RSS catcher.

On F-Droid, Capy Reader does a great job and supports full article downloads to circumvent the sites that only put previews on RSS.

This is a good take. I remind players all the time that even though I’m GMing I’m a player too. I’m just playing a slightly different game. I’m here to have fun and enjoy myself, not babysit.

For my personal games I am as well.

“Make friends with gamers, don’t make gamers out of friends” is an old tabletop adage that took me a long time to really learn.

For public stuff the best that can usually be mustered are safety tools and clear guidelines. But (rarely, thankfully) some people are just there to sabotage.

I GM public games and games at conventions, so sometimes it still crops up. People don’t always make it readily apparent ahead of game time that they’re going to pull shenanigans like this.

My fix has always been: that’s fine! They go off on their own adventures. Now please roll a character that’s going to play the game we’re running here tonight.

I run gritty low magic games with death and safety tools. Which group do I join!?

I can’t speak to journaling because it has never worked for me, but as a fellow anxiety-haver now approaching his 40s: please talk to someone if you’re able.

You’ll find every reason and excuse not to, you’ll tell yourself it’s not that bad. You’ll minimize your problems. You’ll self-medicate and self-therapize without even realizing it’s what you’re doing.

Proper medication and/or therapy is absolutely critical and life-changing. Please don’t wait to go, it’s genuinely worth the hassle and effort it requires.

I’ve always maintained that it’s a library, not a backlog. A backlog is a chore, a task I have to finish.

A library is a catalogue of new, exciting experiences waiting for me to have them!

I also happen to live in a rural area with radio Internet so when I decide I want to play a game it’s many, many hours for it to install and be playable. Heck, sometimes I can order a physical game and it’ll arrive by delivery faster than I can install it.

Also some console games are still physically on the cartridge/disc and it’s becoming more and more of a rarity. As long as the media and systems hold up you can still actually own these games. It’s sometimes worth not sleeping on these because, as I’m sure we can all see, they’re a drying breed. Same thing with (most) GOG games: if you download and save the backup installers you can have actual ownership over titles purchased there.

https://www.doesitplay.org/ is a wonderful resource to find out if a physical game you buy is actually on the media it comes on.

And, unfortunately, some digital games are going somewhere. Delisted games have become a real problem for preservationists. You can find a whole list of them here: https://delistedgames.com/

All that said I support the notion of less consumption and more meaningful consumption when it occurs. Don’t let FOMO get the better of you, be aware that these corpos are not your friend, and take measures to secure the things you wish to have available to you! Host servers, seed torrents, and have backups.

That game seems to get picked on these days, but back when it came out my brother and I were all about it. How’s it hold up?

I have a startling revelation. Upon closer inspection it was a piece of wood.

I have lied to you all.

That’s a matter of perspective, I suppose. We’ve been doing it for about ten years so our vibe, sound, and structure have improved in that time. Not to mention equipment upgrades.

I’d say pick a topic you enjoy and start there, but I don’t think there’s a wrong route. But if it’s super early and we sound bad maybe give a newer show a shot lol

We talk about what we’ve been playing that week and retro relevant news stuff. We put the timestamp in for those that want to get right to the point.

♥️

You don’t have to, you can just look at this one. It’s a visual experience.

Yeah I’m not sure that would fit under my tv either lol

A million times this. Retro games aren’t just still good, they’re better than they’ve ever been thanks to modern tools and emulation.