The Very Many Questions-Not-Worth-Their-Own-Thread Thread XXXII

[Cutlass]

Is it legal to throw away mail that comes to you but is addressed to the former renter? Or do I have to attempt to forward it on?

In the past I have told the post office certain people don't live here anymore and it didn't stop the mis-mailings. I don't blame the post office but I get more mail not for me than mail for me. I am tired of forwarding stuff, I just want to throw it all away. I'll forward important stuff like tax documents because I'm not a monster but I most of the mis-mailings is credit card solicitations and stuff.

Anything which is first class mail, you should write 'moved' on it, and put it somewhere where the carrier will take it away. Anything in which the postage is 'standard' or 'non profit' doesn't get forwarded, and you can toss. Or write moved on all of it and let the post office handle it. But if it say 'occupant' or 'past resident's name or current resident', then it's yours.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

How do I tell what class the mail is?

 

[Arakhor]

Your stamps don't tell you whether they're first or second class?

 

[Cutlass]

How do I tell what class the mail is?

It says on the stamp. Or on the printed part, which sometimes is used. A 'forever' stamp is first class. A bill will often have a printed thing in place of a stamp that says 'presorted first class', or 'standard' or 'presorted standard' or 'non profit'. If you can't tell, write 'moved' on the envelope and leave it for the mailman.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Is it legal to throw away mail that comes to you but is addressed to the former renter? Or do I have to attempt to forward it on?

In the past I have told the post office certain people don't live here anymore and it didn't stop the mis-mailings. I don't blame the post office but I get more mail not for me than mail for me. I am tired of forwarding stuff, I just want to throw it all away. I'll forward important stuff like tax documents because I'm not a monster but I most of the mis-mailings is credit card solicitations and stuff.

I still get mail addressed to the former tenants and I've lived here for four years.

I just write "return to sender; addressee has moved" on the envelope and drop it into the box provided for incorrectly-delivered mail.

If it's just a simple error such as getting a neighbor's mail, I'll go take it around to them myself - just slip it under the door with a note that it was in my box by mistake.

 

[civvver]

I wasn't sure whether to make a thread for this or not. Other games forum is mostly dead too.

But do you guys feel video games are generally improving in terms of quality or declining?

Obviously on a surface level newer games have better graphics, usually better controls (not necessarily between gameplay), usually better AI but not always, better sound effects/include voice acting but not necessarily better music though. However I've been diving into my nintendo 2ds and it seems like a large majority of the best titles are simply remakes of old gems. I am loving ocarina of time again and can't wait to get majora's mask. Chrono trigger for ds is one of its highest rated games. Some other game is coming out this week for 3ds which is basically a remake of radiant historia.

Go on metacritic, half the top rated games are ~20 years old, two thirds are ~7+.

Of course every now and then a new game comes out everyone raves about like gtaV or breath of the wild or witcher 3. So there are exceptions. But it seems like a lot of games are just assassin's creed X and madden 20xx and not a lot of anything truly new and wonderful gets released.

Games don't necessarily seem more fun even if they are better peripherally. In fact my short list of my favorite games ever would be master of orion 2 (96), mass effect 2 (2010), dragon age origions (2009), civ4 (2004), ocarina of time (98). Kind of all over the place but nothing super recent.

 

[Synobun]

I wasn't sure whether to make a thread for this or not. Other games forum is mostly dead too.

But do you guys feel video games are generally improving in terms of quality or declining?

Obviously on a surface level newer games have better graphics, usually better controls (not necessarily between gameplay), usually better AI but not always, better sound effects/include voice acting but not necessarily better music though. However I've been diving into my nintendo 2ds and it seems like a large majority of the best titles are simply remakes of old gems. I am loving ocarina of time again and can't wait to get majora's mask. Chrono trigger for ds is one of its highest rated games. Some other game is coming out this week for 3ds which is basically a remake of radiant historia.

Go on metacritic, half the top rated games are ~20 years old, two thirds are ~7+.

Of course every now and then a new game comes out everyone raves about like gtaV or breath of the wild or witcher 3. So there are exceptions. But it seems like a lot of games are just assassin's creed X and madden 20xx and not a lot of anything truly new and wonderful gets released.

Games don't necessarily seem more fun even if they are better peripherally. In fact my short list of my favorite games ever would be master of orion 2 (96), mass effect 2 (2010), dragon age origions (2009), civ4 (2004), ocarina of time (98). Kind of all over the place but nothing super recent.

I think they're declining, but not due to features or specific design.

As time has gone by developing video games has become more of a financial numbers game than anything else. Publishers exert significant influence over the studios and they are hamstrung in what they can actually do. Most development cycles are races to a payday. Delays are an afterthought so studios never take their time. If they disagree with the publisher, take too long, or make mistakes, the future of the studio is put at risk due to corporate punishment.

The best games of today are the same games where the studios are given primary control over what they are doing. The worst games, in terms of potential reached, are the same games where the studios are dancing to a very specific tune from the publisher. I don't think that is a coincidence. Studios are damaged by overbearing publishers, and that in turn damages the product they deliver.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I wasn't sure whether to make a thread for this or not. Other games forum is mostly dead too.

But do you guys feel video games are generally improving in terms of quality or declining?

Obviously on a surface level newer games have better graphics, usually better controls (not necessarily between gameplay), usually better AI but not always, better sound effects/include voice acting but not necessarily better music though. However I've been diving into my nintendo 2ds and it seems like a large majority of the best titles are simply remakes of old gems. I am loving ocarina of time again and can't wait to get majora's mask. Chrono trigger for ds is one of its highest rated games. Some other game is coming out this week for 3ds which is basically a remake of radiant historia.

Go on metacritic, half the top rated games are ~20 years old, two thirds are ~7+.

Of course every now and then a new game comes out everyone raves about like gtaV or breath of the wild or witcher 3. So there are exceptions. But it seems like a lot of games are just assassin's creed X and madden 20xx and not a lot of anything truly new and wonderful gets released.

Games don't necessarily seem more fun even if they are better peripherally. In fact my short list of my favorite games ever would be master of orion 2 (96), mass effect 2 (2010), dragon age origions (2009), civ4 (2004), ocarina of time (98). Kind of all over the place but nothing super recent.

Declining, no question. Too many games available is, I think, at the crux of it. Developers know that a lot of flash will get their game bought and played, and they aren't really interested in having it played for a long time...which is just as well because with so many games there isn't likely to be any way to get it played for a long time even if they tried. So great play and replayability are so far down on the priority list that it is unlikely we will ever see them again.

 

[Hrothbern]

I wonder whether it is about time to start a thread on the emerging transformation of the EU.

UK out of the EU, US developments (not only Trump), the Macron-Schulz setting, DIEM25, etc
The whispers on reviving the EMF of Triffin from the dusted shelves before the UK was in, and the German-French axis dominated.
The revived feeling to defend against the hypercapitalism of the US, the raw capitalism of China.

My guess that in the back chambers of EU countries things are happening.

But it only makes sense if there is enough interest in such a thread.

Is there ?

oh
EMF: European Monetary Fund

 

[BenitoChavez]

Go on metacritic, half the top rated games are ~20 years old, two thirds are ~7+.

Gaming has been around since, what 50 years? If you only limit yourself to the last 7 years of course you aren't going to find a lot of good games within that time span when you compare it to the games from the other 43 years. The video game industry is bigger now than it was several decades ago and a lot more games are being produced, but as you point out a lot of those are derivations of previous games.

Most things that come out of the the entertainment industry, whether it is video games, music, movies, books, etc. is bad. There are really only a handful of gems which you have to dig through all the crap to find. As soon as something good is found the corporate money-mongers take over and serialize it which is why we get the 29th (or whatever) installment of Madden.

 

[civvver]

That is very true, there are far too many half baked games on steam that all seem the same. It's part of why I've never been that interested in trying game development as a hobby- I already see tons of mediocre games and making truly good ones takes a lot of work.

Gaming has been around since, what 50 years? If you only limit yourself to the last 7 years of course you aren't going to find a lot of good games within that time span when you compare it to the games from the other 43 years. The video game industry is bigger now than it was several decades ago and a lot more games are being produced, but as you point out a lot of those are derivations of previous games.

Whoa now, I'm talking about modern games not going all the way back to arcades and pong. I mean a few really stood out as classics like pac man (1980), original donkey knog arcade (1981) probably some others, but I'm thinking more of starting with the NES era. Atari had some ok games, but almost every other console from the 70s flamed out and none are remembered. Like I have played atari and space invaders, dr j vs larry bird basketball, dig dug, but those games can't really compare with modern stuff. I'm saying gaming kind of reached an apex where graphics and gameplay were good enough that beyond that the games aren't improving that much.

Like original zelda for nes is good, epic for it's time, but super shallow compared to link to the past on onward. However a link to the past, link's awakening and ocarina of time still hold up as amazing games even today.

Super mario bros 3 might still be the best mario ever and it was NES.

A ton of great pc games came out late 90s too, homm 3, diablo 2, starcraft, moo2, civ2.

Maybe bad games just weren't as likely to see the light of day cus of no digital distribution.

 

[warpus]

Is it legal to throw away mail that comes to you but is addressed to the former renter? Or do I have to attempt to forward it on?

In the past I have told the post office certain people don't live here anymore and it didn't stop the mis-mailings. I don't blame the post office but I get more mail not for me than mail for me. I am tired of forwarding stuff, I just want to throw it all away. I'll forward important stuff like tax documents because I'm not a monster but I most of the mis-mailings is credit card solicitations and stuff.

I read a long thread about this on /r/legaladvice a couple months ago. I can't find it now, but here's some related ones that might help. The easiest solution seems to be getting a "return to sender" stamp and to stamp each letter that comes in and throwing it back in the mail system. Which is what you seem to be doing basically, but getting a stamp might make the process faster.

Destroying mail might be a crime, I can't exactly remember. Here's something I dug up from this thread that might help:

You could also try filing a change of address form for them with your local post office. You'll have to go in but you can fill out a form with their name, your address, and "Moved, Left No Forwarding Address." Sign it yourself and write "form filled in by current resident, [Your Name]". That will often fix the problem.

You can't do it for malicious purposes (e.g. you can't fill out a change of address for your friend and have all of their mail forwarded to Alaska as a prank). You can (and should) do it in a case like you are experiencing. Go into your local post office, speak to the postmaster at your location, and s/he will be able to help you fill out the correct forms.

The option also exists (again via speaking to your postmaster -- the postmaster is just the "manager" of your local branch) to place a flag on your address at the post office level which directs all mail not addressed to you to be returned or refused. This option isn't foolproof - you may get a few pieces of mail here and there - but should work.

Also some things of note from this thread

You could, however, get in trouble if you destroy mail that doesn't belong to you.

 

[BenitoChavez]

That is very true, there are far too many half baked games on steam that all seem the same. It's part of why I've never been that interested in trying game development as a hobby- I already see tons of mediocre games and making truly good ones takes a lot of work.



Whoa now, I'm talking about modern games not going all the way back to arcades and pong. I mean a few really stood out as classics like pac man (1980), original donkey knog arcade (1981) probably some others, but I'm thinking more of starting with the NES era. Atari had some ok games, but almost every other console from the 70s flamed out and none are remembered. Like I have played atari and space invaders, dr j vs larry bird basketball, dig dug, but those games can't really compare with modern stuff. I'm saying gaming kind of reached an apex where graphics and gameplay were good enough that beyond that the games aren't improving that much.

Like original zelda for nes is good, epic for it's time, but super shallow compared to link to the past on onward. However a link to the past, link's awakening and ocarina of time still hold up as amazing games even today.

Super mario bros 3 might still be the best mario ever and it was NES.

A ton of great pc games came out late 90s too, homm 3, diablo 2, starcraft, moo2, civ2.

Maybe bad games just weren't as likely to see the light of day cus of no digital distribution.

Ok so NES came out in the mid 80s which limits the time frame to about 35 years. I think my basic argument still holds. Comparing the number of good video games produced in a small time frame to a larger one, the larger one is going to win out.

 

[Commodore]

Advocating for someone's death is generally bad form, so no.

It's not really advocating for death so much as it is just not stopping people from killing themselves.

 

[Lexicus]

It's not really advocating for death so much as it is just not stopping people from killing themselves.

Well, I think we should stop people from killing themselves whenever possible, so...

 

[Takhisis]

I think they're declining, but not due to features or specific design.

As time has gone by developing video games has become more of a financial numbers game than anything else. Publishers exert significant influence over the studios and they are hamstrung in what they can actually do. Most development cycles are races to a payday. Delays are an afterthought so studios never take their time. If they disagree with the publisher, take too long, or make mistakes, the future of the studio is put at risk due to corporate punishment.

The best games of today are the same games where the studios are given primary control over what they are doing. The worst games, in terms of potential reached, are the same games where the studios are dancing to a very specific tune from the publisher. I don't think that is a coincidence. Studios are damaged by overbearing publishers, and that in turn damages the product they deliver.

This sounds a lot like the film industry.

Declining, no question. Too many games available is, I think, at the crux of it. Developers know that a lot of flash will get their game bought and played, and they aren't really interested in having it played for a long time...which is just as well because with so many games there isn't likely to be any way to get it played for a long time even if they tried. So great play and replayability are so far down on the priority list that it is unlikely we will ever see them again.

If it's down to the market then it's cyclical and then great play and replayability will come to the fore (I still have GTA III and Vice City on CD, for example) again in some time. Bad games will stop selling.

Of course, there's always the danger that cellphones will completely dominate.

A ton of great pc games came out late 90s too, homm 3, diablo 2, starcraft, moo2, civ2.

Yes… I've been thinking that if I finally graduate this year I'll reactivate my accounts on GoG/Steam and reacquire some of those games. Warcraft II and III, probably. I'm also looking forwards to (perhaps) playing Dota II.

I still keep old games like Blood, Fallout I and II, etc. that seem to run best on DosBox/Windows XP.

I wonder whether it is about time to start a thread on the emerging transformation of the EU.

Yes, but wear a non-flammable outfit.

 

[Gori the Grey]

I mean a few really stood out as classics like pac man (1980), original donkey knog arcade (1981) probably some others,

Asteroids has to be in any such list.

And because of it, gaming in general can only be regarded as having experienced a steady decline since 1979, to answer your question (which should have been its own thread, by the way).

 

[cardgame]

I'm still getting the occasional piece of mail for someone that lived here in 2014 or the first half of 2015

I'm not wasting my time with their mail... they need to update their address. WTH.

edit: for clarity, I got new mail for them - essentially to the effect of, "hey we're a car dealership, thanks for buying a car from us this october of 2016" and that's completely on them for using the wrong address. If it was something serious like a court summons or whatever I wouldn't be as cavalier about it.

 

[FriendlyFire]

It's not really advocating for death so much as it is just not stopping people from killing themselves.

The only people mistaking The ONION for real news are Republicans,(The people who started this Meme)
Iam sure any attempts for try and warn them about the dangers will be considered FAKE NEWS
You going to have a bit of an uphill battle

 

[Commodore]

How many black holes is too many?