EarWorm

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TL;DR: Any recommendations for a game like Overwatch that actually functions? XDefiant was promising, but it doesn't have "roles" that don't require shooting, so my friend got frustrated.

As it turns out, it is actually possible to make friends as an adult. Who knew?

She likes MOBAs and such, and I mostly go for shooters so Overwatch was an obvious choice.

The gameplay is fun, and it gives us both something we enjoy, but there are some glaring issues that are best described by just describing my own experience in the game.

First off, the game requires you to win 50 matches in quick play before you're allowed in ranked. With both of us working full-time, having spouses and whatnot, and dealing with 3 random teammates, that took forever.

I finally got to ranked, she already had a rank. The game "predicted" my rank to be basically the same as hers. Even so, all that's available are "wide matches". Average wait time is between 20-30 minutes.

So we started a co-op campaign in Baldur's Gate 3.

We still would like to find a competitive game to play together, so basically a functional Overwatch.

And that brings us here. Any ideas?

I've been working as an automation technician for around 5 years now, and I've come across several services that promise a substantial improvement in energy efficiency when it comes to heating, especially involving district heating with water. Most of these are subscription services.

While they usually quote numbers that are based in reality, the way they are accomplished is often covered in technical jargon and straight up BS that a person without experience won't be able to understand and so believes the seller.

That's where this post comes in.

All that the impressive sounding, weather pattern considering, ultra-futuristic solution really does is take the existing setpoint for the heating system and lowers it by ≈2°C. That's it. One line of code. Takes any competent professional 5 minutes to implement. What's worse, some systems are laid on top of the old one, with a higher priority. Meaning that you need a specialist provided by the "optimization" company to adjust the heating. So if you're too cold or too hot, tough shit. Your building's maintenance company can't change it.

The existing system in most cases already bases its setpoints on the current outside temperature, with a pollrate of around a second. What the weather is going to be like next week, or even tomorrow, does not matter. The system already adjusts the setpoints in real time.

Maybe a bit of a niche rant, but hopefully helps at least someone. Thanks for reading!

Recently, my girlfriend got interested in Elden Ring, and I'm trying to give her some advice. She doesn't have much experience in gaming, mostly chill games like Stardew Valley and such.

I'm afraid I'll scare her off if I monologue about i-frames, poise damage and parry windows, so: People whose first FromSoft experience was Elden Ring, what advice did you find actually usable for getting into the game?