Rates Given

1

Bot Drop / Re: Someone spoofing and being a general twat

Wins The Internet

Anyway... yeah, some no life fuckin' loser was spoofing both me and [A2W]H3mr0yd on DM, December 11, 2018, at around 3:15pm Eastern.

Seems to be someone from Canada whose primary alias has been "Sex Offender". (They first used the alias in 2010, disappeared for awhile, then showed up again about 200 days ago.)

I've added a WallFly name-ban to force the "Sex Offender" alias on their subnet, since it seems to be their main alias. (They've also used "child molester" and "MentalHealthIss", which perhaps prompts one to wonder whether these selections may be autobiographical, and not merely edgy trolling.)

2

Politics / Re: Current Politics & History Only Thread

Informative

This youtuber presents an interesting thesis.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZWSoV6zE0M
<span data-s9e-mediaembed="youtube" style="display:inline-block;width:100%;max-width:640px"><span style="display:block;overflow:hidden;position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%"><iframe allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" style="background:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bZWSoV6zE0M/hqdefault.jpg) 50% 50% / cover;border:0;height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;width:100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bZWSoV6zE0M"></iframe></span></span><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/bZWSoV6zE0M" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/bZWSoV6zE0M</a>

I hadn't been aware of the degree to which game publishers (as well as, indirectly, large retailers like Wal-Mart) are structuring financial incentives in developer contracts based on Metacritic score thresholds. (For example: The developers of Fallout: New Vegas reportedly missed a million-dollar bonus by 1 "point" when the game garnered an overall score of 84 on Metacritic, instead of the 85 stipulated in their contract with Bethesda.)

And so: as a developer if you want to earn those bonuses, the smart strategy may be to inject politics into your game that aligns with that of the ideologues and activist 'journalists' writing most of the reviews.

Examples are given in the video of such activist bloggers—ahem!—"game journalists" knocking games' scores down for either having the 'wrong' politics; or, for being merely apolitical enough to lack sufficient 'correct' political messaging woven into the game's story.

It's bizarre to me that a game developer's financial well-being would be tied contractually to some arbitrary number on a review aggregation website. Particularly given the leaked emails a few years back that exposed a cabal of dozens of reviewers for high-profile gaming websites coordinating to tailor their game reviews along political lines.

3

Politics / Re: Current Politics & History Only Thread

Flawless Logic

It's nuts how close it was.

Speaking of nuts, how crazy is it that in many aspects the republican party is the MORE reasonable party these days? Keep in mind that's relative, I'm not saying they're reasonable.

When the tea party highjacked the republican party most of them were straight up loony!! How could it get any worse!?

Democrats: "Hold my beer"

 

4

Jokes / Re: Funny Pictures

Funny

5

Bot Drop / Re: Suspicious behavior

Informative

Johnny tried to flood the server (2)

The Q2Admin software is being a bit overdramatic here, as it turns out this particular error just means the client made too many changes to a userinfo variable, like "skin" or "hand" or "name" or "rate", etc.

6

Quake / Re: Thank you, quadz!

Wins The Internet

For a game nearly 21 years old at this point, it would be kinda cool to have just a small bit of info about this server (when it started, if it was thought it would still be around after all these years at that point, where it's located, something about the community, etc.)

Even now, I can still recall THE GREAT MERGER OF AUGHT FIVE, wherein the TDM/duel community first joined our insular group of FFA enthusiasts.

The ensuing 'cultural enrichment' was a sight to behold.

 

7

Jokes / Re: Funny Pictures

Rock On

8

Politics / Re: Current Politics & History Only Thread

Wins The Internet

Well-crafted exposition on the state of free speech in the UK, after a Scottish youtuber is arrested and convicted in court for causing "gross offence", for posting a video in which a dog (above) reacts to phrases like "seig heil" and "gas the jews." (Note: In the original video, it's explicitly stated by the youtuber that he's seeking to annoy his girlfriend by turning her dog into "the least cute thing" he could think of, "a Nazi." The prosecution claimed context didn't matter. The judge agreed.)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti2bVS40cz0
<span data-s9e-mediaembed="youtube" style="display:inline-block;width:100%;max-width:640px"><span style="display:block;overflow:hidden;position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%"><iframe allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" style="background:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ti2bVS40cz0/hqdefault.jpg) 50% 50% / cover;border:0;height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;width:100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ti2bVS40cz0"></iframe></span></span><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/ti2bVS40cz0" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/ti2bVS40cz0</a>


Mirror of the original "grossly offensive" video with the "Nazi pug":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD_QlnY8Ggg

9

/dev/random / Re: The Man Thread

Informative

<span data-s9e-mediaembed="youtube" style="display:inline-block;width:100%;max-width:640px"><span style="display:block;overflow:hidden;position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%"><iframe allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" style="background:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/3ZRVpYPFOl0/hqdefault.jpg) 50% 50% / cover;border:0;height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;width:100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3ZRVpYPFOl0"></iframe></span></span><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/3ZRVpYPFOl0" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/3ZRVpYPFOl0</a>

10

Community Events / The TS500 Returns!

Wins The Internet

I won't even count how many years it's been since the last one, but seeing Q2 has gotten the big 20, it's about damn time. Deets below.



Get in here!

Server: tastyspleen.net:27999 (or type `GOTO TS500` from any Q2 server where WallFly is present)
Map: city64
Fraglimit: 500
Timelimit: none (usually takes about 90 minutes)
Gametype: Standard FFA, first to 500 wins
When: Saturday, June 24th, 8 PM Eastern (5 PM Pacific, 1 AM London)
Time Zone Calculator: http://everytimezone.com/#2017-6-24,720,cn3

Haven't played Q2 in awhile?

For Windows users, we have Elysium's "1-click" installer at http://q2s.tastyspleen.net/ which will get you back online with Q2 in a snap.

city64