Pentium100

Such a cute picture... I agree that Jack was the best in SG1, I like his style of humor. The alternate reality people dying was a bit weird, but then again, "original" reality was the best - they overcame all problems, I guess the alternate realities were what would have been if something failed. Though there probably were some alternate realities where everything was even better, but they had no need to contact the "original" reality.

Normally I would be OK with microtransactions and even loot boxes, but there is a big problem - companies get too greedy. They then design the game around the microtransactions so that the player are "strongly encouraged" to spend real money. Loot boxes and premium currency are ways to trick people into spending more. Premium currency decouples the prices of items from real money value, so you do not see that you are spending $10 for something. You spend 400 gems, which you buy for $10, but since the actions of buying the gems and buying the items are separate, it is easier to forget the "exchange rate". Loot boxes trigger gambling addiction in people prone to them. It does not matter if you can win real money or not, the whole idea is exactly the same. Even if you do not get addicted, you still spend more money on the loot boxes as opposed to buying the item that you want outright. What is even worse is that the odds of getting good items can be changed at will (and can be different for different players - you buy a lot of loot boxes - lower chance for you) and are not mandated by any law. Unlike, say, a casino where the gambling machines have to have a certain percentage of winnings - it would be easy to rig a machine to never pay out anything, but if you get audited and that is found out, expect some large fines. Children are more susceptible to getting addicted (probably not shocking) and, at least in my country, they are not even allowed in a casino (as a comparison, children are allowed in a bar, just not allowed to drink alcohol) even if it's just to watch the adults gamble. Game companies know this and they count on it. They know that a lot of people won't spend any money (or very little) on the game, so they want to get the "whales" - people who spend thousands of dollars on in-game items. Games are optimized for microtransactions on purpose - playing the game without spending real money should be just fun enough for you to play and seriously consider spending money on the items that would make it more fun to play: if it's too fun, then you won't spend money and if it's not fun enough you won't play the game at all. I think that cosmetic microtransactions are kinda OK, but the game should be rated at least teen (no to getting little kids to empty the bank accounts of their parents). Pay-to-win is not and loot boxes are gambling. If you want to put loot boxes in your game, then it should be rated adult only and placed together with the porn games.

My main PC (the one I use to play games etc): CPU: 2x Opteron 4238 RAM: 32GB (I have more RAM ready to install at some point when I have to shut down the PC anyway) GPU: nVidia GTX780 3GB HDD: 4x 15kRPM 300GB drives in RAID6 for system, 4x 15kRPM 300GB drives in RAID10 for games RAID controller: Adaptec 5805Z PSU: Two hot-swap redundant Supermicro PSUs, I do not remember the power rating and do not want to pull one out and look. Case: Supermicro CSE-747 converted to 4U rackmount

When it's hot (+26C) and especially if it's humid too. Especially if have to leave the room with AC and go somewhere. While I do not like when it is cold (say, -15C) and I have to scrape ice from the windows of my car, making myself warm is much easier than cooling myself down. A good day for being outside would be no rain and +14C - +18C, overcast would be preferable, but sunny is also OK when it is cold enough. Rain is nice provided that I can stay inside or in a car where I am not the driver. Snow is nice provided I do not have to shovel it, clean it from my car or drive on snowy streets.

There are no local AM stations where I live, but I can pick some up from far away (it's better at night). I sometimes try to listen to them, but normally I don't.

I do not think MLP changed my music taste at all. I like some of the songs from the show and have bought a couple of records of them, but that is kind of the music I normally like. My tastes slowly expand (slowly adding new music that I like, but not getting bored of what I liked before).

Thanks for the warm welcome, it will be nice to be able to discuss the show with someone (my friends don't like the show). @Splashee copper oxide rectifiers - I'll have to look those up, as I only know mercury vapor rectifiers (have never seen one from up close), selenium (some of my radios have them) and vacuum tube (the amps I built have them), well, in addition to the modern ones.

Hi, I am a long time fan of the show, I also read a lot of fanfics - I think MLP actually got me into reading fanfics. Unlike a lot of other fans of the show I have zero artistic ability. In addition to MLP, I like SciFi shows, especially Stargate and Babylon 5. Other than TV, I am interested electronics and old technology in general (steam engines, vacuum tubes, stuff like that). I have some servers as well. I have watched the show since season 2, but have stopped for a few years (but continued to read fanfics), then came back to season 8 I think. That gave me a lot of episodes to watch instead of waiting for each one. I am usually OK with spoilers and will sometimes go looking for them, so not having seen some episodes, but having them referenced in fanfics was not a problem. I do not know how active I'll be here, but we will see I guess.