Casual Conversation

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I can't imagine leaving this place. I don't have any money, and I hate having fights and following rules in my family apartment but I just can't survive alone and rent a place especially since I can't divide the bills with anyone. I'm paying the electricity bills and stuff but it's getting harder especially without a job.

Also my family is renting the house, we don't really own a place in this country. But that's the reality we live.

Teenage me in 1994 trying to combine helpfulness and knowitallness. Some things never change.

I hope Rudy got that Ultrastar and other cool stuff too.

And I was SOOO close to truly being a part of the original hordes of eternal September, but I was really about 9-12 months too late.

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I think many of us have noticed the trend that modern tech just... Doesn't make things better. There's little to be excited about, because anything even remotely innovative is going to be filled with tracking, ads, etc.

Let's say you had a bored software engineer or 2 at your disposal and the goal was to improve something you do often, by creating an application or website that isn't owned and enshittified by a megacorp looking to extract maximum short term value - what would your project be? Is it something you'd be willing to pay for, maybe with a free tier available?

The reason I'm asking is that I'm a software engineer and in the current hard-ass market, while I'm lucky enough to have a stable job, I know that experience alone isn't cutting it anymore in the recruitment process. You need to be able to show side projects too. Plus I have an unemployed software engineer friend who also has no interesting projects to show. So if we make any money out of it, that's awesome. If we don't, it's just something for our github accounts. Probably the latter.

PS: Yes, I know this is not a tech community - I want ideas from regular, non-techy people too.

PPS: This doesn't have to be something in your personal life, it could also be something that would help you at work if you had it.

I was asking myself what makes for good reading. Perhaps it is relatable acumen, technical prowess, or a philosophically well defined notion brought to sharp focus from beyond the edge of my conscious awareness.

What do you appreciate, about others? Is it ultimately their moments of showpersonship, albeit based on any realm of thought? From kindness to empathy, from technical knowledge to relentless dependability; are all spaces ultimately a platform of performance and success or appreciation correlated with the show one is willing and able to perform?

The phenomenon of video games being released in an unfinished state and then elying on updates over time is a unique aspect of gaming culture. Something other forms of art and media like film, music, or literature would never really rely upon.

In these more traditional forms, the expectation is that once a work is released, it is a finished product, with little room for major changes post-release. You would never expect a director to release a movie, only to say, "we'll fix the CGI in a few months," or a musician to drop an album with the promise of better mixing later.

1. Interactive Complexity

Video games are inherently interactive, meaning that they have to account for a wide variety of player inputs, actions, and decisions. Unlike movies or albums, which follow a linear path from start to finish, games tend to be designed as complex systems with a multitude of possible outcomes, mechanics, and technical interactions. So finding bugs is a task relayed to the audience instead. Game developers use the player base as a form of mass testing, fixing issues after the game is in the hands of millions. This concept is almost unheard of in other media. Imagine a musician saying, "I'll release my album and let my listeners help me figure out which tracks need reworking." In gaming, however, this kind of iterative process has been normalized

2. Live Service Model

Many modern video games, especially in the AAA space, operate under a live service model, meaning that they are designed to evolve over time with regular updates, new content, and gameplay improvements. This model has fundamentally changed player expectations, as many gamers are accustomed to games receiving long-term support. In contrast, a movie or book is generally regarded as a finished product upon release, with no expectation that it will be materially altered afterward. This is part of being an interactive software I suppose and an option that comes from having a history of

3. Economic and Time Pressures

Game development is a labor-intensive, time-consuming process, often requiring years of work by large teams. Due to intense competition, marketing hype, and financial pressures from investors or publishers, many developers feel compelled to release games before they are fully polished. This is the excuse I hear most often and I have to say .... so are movies.

I've been modding a game for a few days and not on here as much. What's your excuse friend?