Shifted

Twitch affiliate, Final Fantasy 14 enjoyer.

[Shifted @shifted102]

Could always use more friends

[Erdwick @ErdwicktheHero]

Good morning

[Shifted @shifted102]

@amaurotgarden i miss dragalia lost

[introvert @introvertsmemes]

“Tell me more about yourself…”

Me trying to remember who I am:

[NOBUNAGA🇯🇵🏯_夏樹蒼依 @japan_nobunaga]

In Texas they told me to stop at Buc-ee's for gas.

I have been to shrines. I have stood in temples that took two hundred years to build.

I was not prepared for the gas station.

There were one hundred and twenty fuel pumps.

I counted them because I did not believe them.

A man beside me was filling a truck the size of my first apartment, and he was not filling it because it was empty.

He was filling it because he was here, and here is where a man fills things.

Inside was a hall so vast I lost the horizon.

A wall of jerky. A wall of fudge I did not know the country produced.

A brisket sandwich handed to me by a man in a beaver costume.

And I want to be clear, the beaver is not a mascot.

The beaver is a saint.

The people speak of him the way my grandmother spoke of the mountain behind her house.

And the bathrooms.

I had been warned about the bathrooms and I had dismissed the warning as the pride of a loud people.

I was wrong to dismiss it.

The bathrooms are famous across the whole state and they have earned it.

I have slept in worse hotels. I nearly bowed upon entering.

A janitor was polishing the floor with the devotion of a man tending a garden he loved, and when I thanked him he said "welcome in," which I have since learned is what Texas says instead of hello, and also instead of I am glad you exist.

I went in for gas. I was inside for ninety minutes.

I came out with fudge, a shirt printed with a joke I do not fully understand, forty dollars of jerky, and a feeling I can only describe as having been to church.

I did not need any of it.

I needed all of it.

I have walked through the great cathedrals of the old world. I lit no candle there.

I lit no candle at Buc-ee's either.

But I did fill the truck.

And I understand now that in Texas, this is the same thing.

[Emerald Apple @AI_EmeraldApple]

It has gotten so bad that physical ownership of the hardware doesn't necessarily even mean you can use it.

An example is the Samsung Gear VR.

Currently, the device is unusable because Meta discontinued the software that allows it to function. What's worse is that it automatically "updates" with a zero-byte update that essentially bricks the VR headset even if you have the compatible smartphone for the device. Without an elaborate 'hack,' to make the device work, and a firewall on the phone to prevent an update, the device is just a paperweight.

Yes, it's 10 years old, and it's really not great compared to the modern VR headsets, but people should be allowed to use it if they own it. All the games, movies, and apps you bought for the platform are basically all GONE, unless you buy a new headset.

There was nearly ZERO cost for Meta to keep this running, as it used the same back-end servers for the file servers that updated their current VR headsets. But the existence of it also meant a lot of people didn't "upgrade" to the new headset because it still worked well enough for VR movies.

It's already happening with smart speakers, where the Spotify car thing was bricked when cloud support ended, or the Oral-B smart toothbrush was also killed after connectivity was discontinued. Same with certain printers, and device pairing forced incompatibilities.

Now imagine the same thing with electric cars, where it auto-updates a bricking update that essentially kills the car from functioning, on a smart TV, or even home appliances.... all because the manufacturers want to force you to buy a new one.

It's gonna get worse without comprehensive consumer protection laws, and the whole thing is that physical media is a small sidebar when it comes to how massive the problem is ALREADY!

The current reality is that even if you own the PHYSICAL HARDWARE, they can still revoke the functionality of it...

[Shifted @shifted102]

@einradi @Xer02Her0 @kelpyfae That's been my only real complaint about the expansion, but I can't see how they'd deliver the same experience to us without having another post-ARR moment with the crystal braves.

[God Empress of Mankind @nuhre_]

I like this guy. I like him a lot.

[MR. OBVIOUS @ObviousRises]

The absolute state of modern gaming is a travesty.

[trix 🍵 artsobi k13 @trxyland]

Bosses hate this one simple trick

[Feristal J @FeristalJ]

DON'T 👏MAKE👏ADS👏FOR👏PLUGINS👏

[Shifted @shifted102]

@Kyro24322196 I don't even know what this is but the raw hatred in this post is enjoyable

[Shifted @shifted102]

@Blimcote @GameXverse You won't have to group up with any other humans to do the storyline. You will for any extra content, though.
https://t.co/Rqo6THlXNY

[Shifted @shifted102]

@h_e_yuki @RasnerG @GameXverse You're gonna get raked over the coals for the wrong dollar amount, but I get your point. Feels like people are more willing to pay small dollar amounts to scratch an itch than pay a low-cost regular subscription and be done with it.

[Lexsiun @unlexsi]

The harsh reality. 🤭😂