th3raid0r

I liked it just fine!

I know there are a lot of Asimov diehards that found it disappointing. I don’t know why. The iRobot book wasn’t even really a book, it was a collection of short stories. Not exactly an easy thing to adapt to a movie.

I think this take is starting to be a bit outdated. There have been numerous films to use Blender. The “biggest” recent one is RRR - https://www.blender.org/user-stories/visual-effects-for-the-indian-blockbuster-rrr/

Man in the High Castle is also another notable “professional” example - https://www.blender.org/user-stories/visual-effects-for-the-man-in-the-high-castle/

It’s been slow, but Blender is starting to break into the larger industry. With bigger productions tending to come from non-U.S. producers.

There is something to be said about the tooling exclusivity in U.S. studios and backroom deals. But ultimately money talks and Autodesk only has so much money to secure those rights and studios only have so much money to spend on licensing.

I’ve been following blender since 2008 - what we have now is unimaginable in comparison to then. Real commercial viability has been reached (as a tool). What stands in the way now is a combination of entrenched interests and money. Intel shows how that’s a tenuous market position at best, and actively self destructive at worst.

Ultimately I think your claim that it’s not used by real studios is patently and proveably false. But I will concede that it’s still an uphill battle and moneyed interests are almost impossible to defeat. They typically need to defeat themselves first sorta like Intel did.

Oh yes, totally understood. I’ve seen families destroyed from sports gambling and other, less boisterous forms of it.

If I like anything, it’s scratchers and it’s because they’re soooooo satisfying to “play”. But it’s only something I indulge in occasionally.

Anyways, I tried to get into MMO’s back in the early days with all my friends. I tired of it fairly quickly. I guess the novelty seeking part of my brain overwhelmingly rejects typical “gambling” mechanics. Loot boxes don’t do anything for me and never have.

More recently I’ve grown completely frustrated with franchises like Forza Horizon and their little slot machine / skinner box mechanic. I love racing games, but it made me stop playing.

I can be addicted to things, but it just isn’t gambling for me somehow.

I do resent MMO’s for destroying so many of my friend’s lives though. Weird to lose people to that ecosystem, it’s the video game equivalent to losing someone to an MLM.

Also fuuuuuck, MLMs, almost did the “vector marketing” (cutco cutlery) and “rainbow vacuum” thing - the only thing that saved me was that Youtube had existed for like 5 years by then and there was enough people out there with their stories.

I never understood this one. I have ADHD and autism and I find gambling boring as hell. With maybe the exception of blackjack. Where my autistic brain tries to count cards.

I remember the day I turned 21. I decided to try out a casino. I spent $50 there and promptly left. Maybe I just lucked out and they didn’t hook me with an easy win early on?

I’d much rather spend $50 on a video game that I can entertain myself with for hours.

One unique tip that I have is to go to a CBD/Hemp store and snag some CBD heavy strains to mix in with your normal bud. Making sure to increase the % of CBD each time you grind.

It might not help immediately, since CBD is supposed to be a calming substance, not a stimulant. But quitting smoking is a whole lot easier once you are mostly on the CBD stuff.

Definitely avoid the CBG heavy hemp as that’ll just give you the gnarliest munchies you’ll ever have in your life. Some people swear it’s “smart weed” - but for me I can’t think straight when munchies are knocking.