David of the Valley
@willietrombone.bsky.social
Dog patron to St. Bentley. I work in healthcare but not an evil part of it. Fan of board, card, and tabletop games(positive), movies, video games(ambivalent), and genre fiction. Care a little about Titans football, probably more than I like.
I’ll go to the mat for Dark Cloud 2 even if it’s so obvious that they put 90% of the best ideas in the first 15% of the game. And it never quite spools out the same execution of those ideas but then they go and add a golf minigame and you’re like “Well, I can’t be mad about this.”
January 6, 2026 at 1:00 AM
I’ll go to the mat for Dark Cloud 2 even if it’s so obvious that they put 90% of the best ideas in the first 15% of the game. And it never quite spools out the same execution of those ideas but then they go and add a golf minigame and you’re like “Well, I can’t be mad about this.”
A variant on this: the best night of gaming I’ve ever had was pass the controller Worms 2 while watching the Relic in the other room.
Have you ever played a single player game with another person? passing a controller back and forth? Tell me your fun stories I’m bored in a car.
December 28, 2025 at 4:31 AM
A variant on this: the best night of gaming I’ve ever had was pass the controller Worms 2 while watching the Relic in the other room.
Getting RPG sourcebooks for Xmas is such a treat. I don’t know that I’ll ever play LANCER but there’s something so cozy about curling up with a huge tome and dancing around exploring the art, mechanics, lore, and setting. The exact kind of recreation you want on a holiday.
December 27, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Getting RPG sourcebooks for Xmas is such a treat. I don’t know that I’ll ever play LANCER but there’s something so cozy about curling up with a huge tome and dancing around exploring the art, mechanics, lore, and setting. The exact kind of recreation you want on a holiday.
I already made dinner so it’s whatever but does the “Chinese food on Xmas” principle also apply to Thai food?
December 26, 2025 at 3:27 AM
I already made dinner so it’s whatever but does the “Chinese food on Xmas” principle also apply to Thai food?
Reposted by David of the Valley
NORAD Santa tracker is Woke
December 25, 2025 at 2:28 AM
NORAD Santa tracker is Woke
What’s funny is that Roko’s Basilisk is a pretty silly thought experiment which fairly dumb people regarded as a cognitohazard that has now been embraced as a very serious thought experiment by idiot oligarchs whose products actually do produce thought-hostile objects. Torment Nexus achieved!
December 22, 2025 at 3:02 AM
What’s funny is that Roko’s Basilisk is a pretty silly thought experiment which fairly dumb people regarded as a cognitohazard that has now been embraced as a very serious thought experiment by idiot oligarchs whose products actually do produce thought-hostile objects. Torment Nexus achieved!
We got a new manager this year and I had my first annual review with her today and it went well given *waves hands at everything in healthcare* but she made a point of saying she thinks our current salaries are out of band (low) which, like, that’s what I’m trying to hear from a manager.
December 17, 2025 at 3:50 AM
We got a new manager this year and I had my first annual review with her today and it went well given *waves hands at everything in healthcare* but she made a point of saying she thinks our current salaries are out of band (low) which, like, that’s what I’m trying to hear from a manager.
I’m about 10 hours into Q-Up and it’s still in the process of telling its best jokes. Playing the medic and I am howling when my rank busts down not just several levels but entire medallions. And also, you can actually try to play well and be rewarded (maybe).
December 3, 2025 at 3:23 AM
I’m about 10 hours into Q-Up and it’s still in the process of telling its best jokes. Playing the medic and I am howling when my rank busts down not just several levels but entire medallions. And also, you can actually try to play well and be rewarded (maybe).
Really nice of both teams to let Diego Pavia play all the football in this game.
November 29, 2025 at 11:49 PM
Really nice of both teams to let Diego Pavia play all the football in this game.
I think there’s something unique in games where there’s a knife’s edge between high difficulty *per se* which is internally consistent (big man in armor hit hard) and something that feels more ergodic and abstracted (comprehension/completion will come by more rigorously interrogating the text).
Part of me feels like Dark Souls wouldn't have caught on if the first game had difficulty settings. It'd be "cheap", "pointless", etc.
Arcade games had a relatively granular difficulty option via credit feeding and it played a big part in them written off as "button mashers"/"quarter munchers".
Arcade games had a relatively granular difficulty option via credit feeding and it played a big part in them written off as "button mashers"/"quarter munchers".
November 29, 2025 at 1:03 AM
I think there’s something unique in games where there’s a knife’s edge between high difficulty *per se* which is internally consistent (big man in armor hit hard) and something that feels more ergodic and abstracted (comprehension/completion will come by more rigorously interrogating the text).
Okay okay got over a low key anxiety/confusion I’ve been having for a couple weeks because I legit thought Dracula Flow was like deep internet magic from early YouTube and I was like “damn, how’d I miss that?” but that shit came out 2 years ago.
November 27, 2025 at 3:45 AM
Okay okay got over a low key anxiety/confusion I’ve been having for a couple weeks because I legit thought Dracula Flow was like deep internet magic from early YouTube and I was like “damn, how’d I miss that?” but that shit came out 2 years ago.
Sitting here fucking locked into being in my 40’s as I consider which Ken Burns projects I need to make sure I knock out.
November 16, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Sitting here fucking locked into being in my 40’s as I consider which Ken Burns projects I need to make sure I knock out.
I don’t have all the context for this and I don’t care.
Here ya go. I have a Firefox extension that sometimes works. Thanks for sharing.
November 12, 2025 at 9:07 PM
I don’t have all the context for this and I don’t care.
Reposted by David of the Valley
i love this quote and earnestly think it is one of the most beautiful and resonant things ever said about why we make art as people and what it means to live and share.
and also, i think of it every time i instead of that choose to watch 15 youtube videos in a row
and also, i think of it every time i instead of that choose to watch 15 youtube videos in a row
November 11, 2025 at 3:01 AM
i love this quote and earnestly think it is one of the most beautiful and resonant things ever said about why we make art as people and what it means to live and share.
and also, i think of it every time i instead of that choose to watch 15 youtube videos in a row
and also, i think of it every time i instead of that choose to watch 15 youtube videos in a row
If we re-branded it to the Butlerian “Crusade” would the fence post-sitters finally come down on the side of humanity?
November 8, 2025 at 1:25 AM
If we re-branded it to the Butlerian “Crusade” would the fence post-sitters finally come down on the side of humanity?
Legacy media crashing out. Even @npr.org is running the near-landslide Mamdani victory as a triumph of social media savvy and smart electioneering, about 40-50 words on policy.
November 5, 2025 at 3:05 AM
Legacy media crashing out. Even @npr.org is running the near-landslide Mamdani victory as a triumph of social media savvy and smart electioneering, about 40-50 words on policy.
I gotta hand it to the dedicated Jays fans that hung around to do a little polite booing.
November 2, 2025 at 4:35 AM
I gotta hand it to the dedicated Jays fans that hung around to do a little polite booing.
Kojima’s going to make an awesome MGS-alike about this in 10 or so years.
President Trump on Saturday said he's ordered the Pentagon to plan for potential military action in Nigeria, where he alleges the government is failing to rein in the persecution of Christians. n.pr/47zOzqr
Trump threatens military action in Nigeria over Christian persecution claims
President Trump on Saturday said he's ordered the Pentagon to plan for potential military action in Nigeria, where he alleges the government is failing to rein in the persecution of Christians.
n.pr
November 2, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Kojima’s going to make an awesome MGS-alike about this in 10 or so years.
Can’t remember if it’s part of the movie but I just learned that the setup of 101 Dalmatians (the book) is that the owners were granted “lifelong tax exemption” and a house bordering Regent’s Park. Like, I get fantasy in children’s media but that’s a weirdly specific sort of economic security.
October 29, 2025 at 1:48 AM
Can’t remember if it’s part of the movie but I just learned that the setup of 101 Dalmatians (the book) is that the owners were granted “lifelong tax exemption” and a house bordering Regent’s Park. Like, I get fantasy in children’s media but that’s a weirdly specific sort of economic security.
I know there are few standards for PC graphics settings but is there some form of universal software signal chain in Windows for display outputs?
October 23, 2025 at 10:27 PM
I know there are few standards for PC graphics settings but is there some form of universal software signal chain in Windows for display outputs?
A whole generation where the “max” price of a game being $60 has had their concept of value for money irreparably warped by it. Look at old Toys R Us ads with super nintendo games at upwards of $80 before adjusting for inflation! More specifically, 1/2
i feel like this discourse is 500% worse with video games. gamers -- but specifically, those who primarily play AAA titles -- are the most entitled consumers in the universe.
The responses this post is getting, combined with the animating grievances of large swathes of politics, has convinced me we need a kind of society wide PSA about how Buying Things Is Optional.
You don’t think video games should cost $100? Don’t buy the videogame. Buying Things Is Optional.
You don’t think video games should cost $100? Don’t buy the videogame. Buying Things Is Optional.
October 23, 2025 at 5:57 PM
A whole generation where the “max” price of a game being $60 has had their concept of value for money irreparably warped by it. Look at old Toys R Us ads with super nintendo games at upwards of $80 before adjusting for inflation! More specifically, 1/2
Superman is on HBO and I think it’s really good. Go watch it if you haven’t, I’ll give you my login if you need it.
October 1, 2025 at 4:43 AM
Superman is on HBO and I think it’s really good. Go watch it if you haven’t, I’ll give you my login if you need it.
25 minutes into Weapons prediction: everyone is part of some supernatural force and none of them are aware of the others.
September 23, 2025 at 1:18 AM
25 minutes into Weapons prediction: everyone is part of some supernatural force and none of them are aware of the others.
Who doesn’t love seeing a house with windows covered over in newspaper, not due to poverty, but SPOOKY!?!?
September 23, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Who doesn’t love seeing a house with windows covered over in newspaper, not due to poverty, but SPOOKY!?!?
The Pitt is funny because where they work uses the word “Trauma” in the name of a whole-ass medical center. They’re all named after saints or focus-tested bullshit. House is funny because they refer to where he works as a teaching hospital when every surface is wood and glass.
September 22, 2025 at 10:57 PM
The Pitt is funny because where they work uses the word “Trauma” in the name of a whole-ass medical center. They’re all named after saints or focus-tested bullshit. House is funny because they refer to where he works as a teaching hospital when every surface is wood and glass.