cusideabelincoln

Looks good so far. I'm guessing you're going with a white build? White builds look good with RGB.

You'll definitely want a fresh OS. Too much potential for Windows to act weird if you upgrade that much hardware.

I mostly agree with that Polygon article, and don't think it's as harsh as it could be.

Among the various things that I didn't like about the show and the things I thought were just bad, the biggest driving factor to my disappointment is I never connected with the live action Ashoka and Sabine characters. It's the one thing I never expected to happen, because I choked up in the last season of Clone Wars and Sabine was a great character in Rebels. 

Seems to me people who are in love with the show are of at least two camps: A) People 30 or under, who grew up with the PT and watched the animated shows on loop; B) Casual consumers who probably loved TRoS.

The one thing I thought was pretty great was Baylan, and it took 6 episodes for the show to convince me of that. Looking at the meta story, his goal to break the cycle of endless Jedi/Sith fighting is contrary to Filoni (and Lucas') vision that story elements of Star Wars repeat... like poetry, and the show definitely overused the callbacks and repetition of past storylines.

12 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

And was it just me or did Sabine suddenly become really good at blocking blaster bolts with the lightsaber even though that requires additional Force training? She just started using the Force in general but then it seems like she's keeping up with Ezra (even if he is out of practice?). I love the idea from The Last Jedi and this show that "anyone can be a hero" (if the talent is there) but this seemed like quite a jump.

Her armor did take a few hits. It would be neat if her helmet had constant tracking of enemy firearm directions so she would always be ready to block. Maybe if they set up she was relying on her tech too much, it would have been more impactful when she forced her lightsaber after her helm was knocked off.

2 hours ago, Greatoneshere said:

And I guess we won't learn how Ezra and Thrawn got separated when they were on the bridge and what their lives were like for 12 years on this planet, which is bizarre because it definitely requires explaining. Undoing the "Ezra has him" ending of Rebels by just skipping over what happened (Ezra in this episode is like: "Thrawn found this place, woke up the witches, rebuilt his starship, it wasn't safe to come here alone" is completely inadequate. Surely Thrawn would have tried hunting him down over the course of 12 years). 

The plot logistics just feel like "hey, go with it, don't think about it."  It seems strongly implied that Ezra was chilling with the rock people and staying away from Thrawn the entire time - 12 years of hide and seek. And that just feels lame, as you put it.

The Mothers were MacGuffins, just there to move the plot along. Morgan too, we don't get any insight into why they are fighting for Dathomir or working under Thrawn.

Baylan's arc was the most interesting, but it's literally just the start of it.

One of the emotional cores of the story was resolved by a droid. We found out the reason Ashoka stopped training Sabine through Hyuang's dialogue when neither of them were there to hear it. Lame.

1 minute ago, johnny said:

i talked to a couple people who hadn’t seen the cartoons and they said they weren’t having any issues following it and liked it. 

 

i think it really depends on the person. some people are just watching and enjoying and some people are trying to really analyze things. 

They aren't like "Who are these momma's, what do they want, and why are they working for Thrawn?"

I feel so bad for anyone trying to watch this without having watched The Clone Wars. I watched the cartoons (over a decade ago now) and still feel completely baffled and unsatisfied with whatever the hell is going on.

On 9/30/2023 at 1:18 PM, Spawn_of_Apathy said:

I actually didn’t like the Anakin recording. It’s in contrast to her interaction and lesson with Anakin a few episodes ago. It would have fit more for Ahsoka to be listening to a recording or holicron where she’s hearing a deeper truth or meaning to the Force. Something she maybe didn’t understand when she was younger, because she was so focused on the War and being a warrior. Instead she’s learning to fight. It was a scene that would have made sense to happen before she met Anakin in the World between Worlds. 
 

If there’s one thing that undermines this whole show’s premise it is that we know Thrawn didn’t succeed, because the First Order and the Sequel Trilogy. Maybe this whole thing will be Thrawn essentially creating the First Order and then being killed by Snoke because he figures out it’s all part of Palpatine’s plan to return. Blah blah blah. 
 

I kind of just wish this show felt more low stakes and not some “OMG Thrawn will come back and make Empire 2.0, and all will be lost if he returns! 😱” I’ve kind of been disliking that angle since live Action Ahsoka was introduced in Mandalorian season 2. The motivation should have always been to find Ezra and bring him home. While finding Thrawn and any of his fleet still alive and trying to get back should have been something that happens after Ahsoka got to the other universe. Not plot A. But maybe the point was to have a Moby Dick inspired story for Ahsoka. 

Vague, mixed messaging is the standard for SW.

On 9/20/2023 at 4:04 PM, Greatoneshere said:

That was a really good episode! Apart from that eye-rolling, appalling line in the opening when Huyang starts telling a story I thought this was another strong episode. It was great finally seeing Ezra and I like the actor so far playing him. I was pretty disappointed in this extra-galactic planet (Peridea) though, just being a variation on a desolate, dark force powers/dark magicks infused planet. But it was all shot well enough to look interesting. Beyond that, I did have some questions: 

 

1. Is Peridea being the original, ancient homeworld of the Dathomiri a new thing? I just always assumed it was Dathomir. It was very strange for this ancient, basically unknown in the present extra-galactic planet just having these three very much alive "Great Mothers" just hanging about, and there are nomads wandering the wastes. The planet seems too "alive" with Star Wars-esque things. I always expected where Ezra and Thrawn went as somewhere that would have no civilization to it.

 

2. I assume this will get answered in either the show or in Filoni's upcoming film this series is clearly building to but the current situation between Thrawn and Ezra is strange to me. We left them at the end of Rebels with Thrawn incapacitated and Ezra in control on the bridge as they enter hyperspace. Cut to 12 years later (we're in 11 ABY now) and Thrawn has a deal with the Dathomiri and a suite of soldiers with his starship remaining fueled and running. It's obvious Thrawn and all have been through some shit but somehow Ezra ends up losing control on that bridge but survives for 12 years with tiny alien creatures when Thrawn has an army and neither has stopped or killed the other? There's got to be more to it because if Ezra fucked up and Thrawn has had this army for 12 years now how could they have not stopped Ezra until now? Also Thrawn seems very unconcerned with Ezra, which is also strange, though being Thrawn he's probably trying to play it cool.

 

Either way I loved the look of Thrawn's ship and troopers including the gold-masked leader, Enoch. The fight scene between Sabine and the nomads was good and I'm curious what Baylan is up to. And finally seeing Lars Mikkelsen as live-action Thrawn was great, that voice of his really sells the character so it's good he was brought back (he could lose a few pounds though to match Thrawn's always more svelte figure).  

Every other planet looks the same in these D+ shows. There were many sparsely-grassed, low-rolling hills in Mando.

I've just had to accept that you really can't analyze the logistics of the show. Filoni, as the sole credited writer, definitely seems to focus on reverence for the past and doing cool stuff, and plays loosely with how he gets there.

5 hours ago, mclumber1 said:

Nothing poor about Musk's position.  But like I said, he's easily manipulated.  The left could have molded him into something that they could tolerate, but they really dropped the ball.  I guess it shows that the right is much better at playing the game than the left. 

These rich dudes have been manipulating us for years. Musk molded his image through media appearances, making cameos in movies, getting name drops in TV shows, news articles and interviews, all in an effort to get us to view him as a real-life Tony Stark.

Likewise Trump's PR team revamped his image through The Apprentice, priming half the population to believe he's competent and authoritative.

I don't think we had a chance at manipulating these narcissists. 

Image quality comparisons to DLSS3 seem like a bigger issue than input lag.  Waiting for some comparisons.

What about Asylum and City?

Leaked Microsoft Documents Show the Xbox Series S Might Be More Popular Than You Think - IGN

WWW.IGN.COM

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A court document from the big Xbox leak reveals that 75 percent of Xbox Series owners own the cheaper, less powerful Series S console.

If Xbox can only compete on sales at a lower cost, the ARM efficiency would make sense as a possible path for them.

3 hours ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

@cusideabelincoln MS invested $0 in xCloud in FY 2022 and expected to only invest only in the "single digit millions" in FY 2023.

 

 

 

 

Holy cow. Explains why the couple of times I did try XCloud via Game Pass I was thoroughly disappointed.

I was also jabbing about how they promised the Xbone would offload computational tasks to the cloud. And it's possible they might actually do "Hybrid Cloud" by offloading AI and have ChatGPT derived NPCs.

Oh wow, they sound sooooo committed to Cloud Hybrid Games they've been promising since the Xbone.

Switch is like a portable Wii U*

*portable outside of 5 meters.

If you're saying it spikes into the 70s while mostly idling or light use, then yes that is a problem. 

If it's going into the 70s while gaming or under full load, that is totally normal for a 7800x3D.

But judging from the looks of that cooler, it's definitely not suitable for long term high CPU loads. There's just not enough thermal mass and dissipation for a high end 8 core CPU.

Might want to also try resetting the CPU into the socket. If the CPU isn't making good contact with the motherboard, that can also cause RAM related issues. Check for bent pins or debris.

And definitely, definitely update the BIOS if you haven't yet. There's a button by the USB ports on the back to do it, and you don't even need a CPU installed.  Not only is there better RAM support, but some early BIOS on some motherboards were causing 7800X3Ds to blow up because they were sending too high of a voltage to it.

4 hours ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

I'll throw in a vote for Endor/Kashyyyk forest-type planet or Mustafar lava-type location. 

 

 

 

I will say that I am seeing a lot of criticisms about the stiff acting overall in the show and how Ahsoka particularly comes off as, as you said, bland/boring/emotionless "Jedi Master". That's one criticism I'm not sure where I stand on it yet because Ahsoka is older now, as Anakin pointed out and Ahsoka responds by doing her typical arms folded thing and said "it happens". Clearly the Clone Wars and the original trilogy war affected her in a lot of ways and as you get older the things you've done in the past take on a lot of new potential meanings, like killing a lot of sentient beings as a child Jedi soldier and only now feeling the moral weight of killing those living beings. For me, Ahsoka comes off as much more considered in her movements and actions rather than stiff, very much like a monk where they are very aloof. I think a lot of people are mixing up bland and boring for aloof, or Rosario Dawson isn't doing a good enough job selling it, I'm not sure which yet.

The stiffness is definitely intentional, and I think this characteristic is supposed to "rhyme" with how all of the council members in the prequels had the same demeanor and not necessarily just be a result of Ahsoka getting older. I'm just not in love with execution. Even an older and considered Obi-Wan, Luke, and Yoda had distinct personalities.

3 hours ago, Reputator said:

I think Ahsoka also had some character development in this last episode. After her vision, you notice how much more playful and adventurous she seemed? Maybe she chose to leave the darkness of her past behind, and "live".

The episode was a nostalgia trip. Ahsoka was visited by the Force Ghost of Order 66 Past. If we don't finally get to see a happier Scrooge my disappointment in the series will continue. I can't see any reason for the show's pace to not pick up as we're going to an entirely new galaxy and will presumably get to see the first live action Ezra and/or Thrawn.

3 hours ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

 

Slow for me means story slow. Meaning repeating the same beats between Anakin and Ahsoka and Ahsoka and Sabine over and over again. It's like: "we get it". Slow as in pace is great! The Mandalorian and Ahsoka, etc. understand not to do The Force Awakens and Rise of Skywalker, since they ruined the slow tone of Star Wars. But slow in terms of repeating plot points rather than moving past them is bad in any show. It's frustrating because the show really wants to sell that Ahsoka feels like she needs to train Sabine into being a Jedi (but not Jacen when it's easier to train kids?) when all that shit happened off screen after Rebels. It's hard to get invested heavily into something that hasn't been earned yet. Things like Huyang acting super sad and saying things like: "I tell them to always be together" when we've seen only one or two training sessions in a short time between them is a level of unearned drama on a plot point that has a history we've never seen.

It was slow in both regards. And honestly, repeating "rhyming" plot points is what most of the sequel Star Wars does - even moreso than what Lucas did with the prequels. 

I'm still waiting for the explanation as to how we got to this version of Ahsoka (bland, boring, emotionless "Jedi Master") from the Ahsoka in Rebels who proclaimed "I am no Jedi."

On 9/13/2023 at 2:08 AM, Greatoneshere said:

That was a pretty great episode of Star Wars Rebels season 5. I mean Ahsoka episode 5. This episode clearly went for a theater-level feel (hence showing the episode in actual theaters in some places) with the shots, effects, and cinematography all being really well done. I hate the concept of the "World Between Worlds" from Rebels but here it was done with restraint and with a strong pairing of Ahsoka and Anakin. It was great seeing pre-Vader Hayden Christensen as Anakin (got some of that in Obi-Wan), especially with how his lightsaber fighting style changes just as it did in the prequels to indicate how far to the dark side he is (same with his hair, eyes and makeup). You could see Christensen employ moves from fights form the prequels in his fights with Ahsoka as they moved through the endless fog of war. I liked that sequence a lot since it used The Voice in an artistic way while managing to have more than 4 people in a scene at once. The background actors in these scenes helped to sell the sense and scale of war while obviously being on a small set. 

 

Even the stuff happening in reality is well done with the purrgil sequence working better than I thought it would in live-action. The episode still moved too slow for my liking, hitting the same beat a couple of times in the Ahsoka-Anakin sequences (that weird moment where Anakin is joking with Ahsoka was strange). It was nice that Christensen kept Anakin kind of creepy and super intense, because that's who the character was in the prequels, rather than sand down those edges (which they do a little bit when he tries to teach or train her which they should but in general you can tell the dude is kind of crazy, enjoying unleashing the full extent of his almost limitless power in the Clone Wars). 

I think it's safe to say "slow" is Filoni's directorial style for live action. It's been his go-to so far (classic Western/Samurai inspired), and I hope he's got something more in the bag because I don't think this style will translate to the movie he's supposed to be making.

Most likely an out-of-date BIOS with bad RAM support. Some CPUs and Mobo, especially on older BIOS, have trouble running RAM faster than 5600.

SSD is part of the minimum specs.

An Nvidia driver update will most likely boost performance, as right now you have to manually enforce ReBar which helps framerates.

Don't use Ultra shadows on Nvidia cards.

And look into the DLSS mod.

I can't imagine you're using a bad CPU if you have a 3080, which is good enough to play the game (just not at Ultra settings).

Just now, legend said:

^{* Do my AIs still have trouble walking straight and being confused by a bit of noise in the image? Yes, but I'm sure they'll crack the aging problem for us any moment now...}

Sounds like your AI has aged too much.

From what I've seen, the 4770k will probably average like 30 fps and probably stutter.  Six cores is the minimum recommended, and the game also loves memory speeds.

AMD Ryzen 7800X3D CPU is pretty good bang for the buck. A decent motherboard will be around $200 (or more), and you will need new DDR5 RAM which you can get under $100.  AMD could bring out more processors for this platform in the future, but it's not guaranteed for how long.

Starfield in particular does perform better with Intel CPUs. If you go with an Intel, they will only release one more set of future CPU upgrades.  The 13600K or 13700K would be good values, and again you'll also need DDR5 RAM.

Would also be recommended to have a good cooler. If you currently have one, you'll probably need to find an adapter to fit the new sockets.

On 8/30/2023 at 9:49 PM, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

 

I thought this was a pretty interesting analysis as to why maps play such an important role in the Star Wars universe:

 

Why Is Star Wars So Obsessed With Maps?

GIZMODO.COM

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Ahsoka puts heroes and villains alike on a quest for cartography in its premiere. But why has contemporary Star Wars storytelling made this trope so crucial?

 

 

This builds off the notion that the vast majority of the inhabitants of the universe could very well be functionally illiterate:

 

Most Citizens of the Star Wars Galaxy are Probably Totally Illiterate | Tor.com

WWW.TOR.COM

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Not once in any Star Wars movie does someone pick up a book or newspaper, magazine, literary journal, or chapbook handmade by an aspiring Jawa poet. If something is read by someone in Star Wars, it…

 

Why do we need to know things when my droid Siri/Alexa/Google can do it for me?