
u/StakeESC

What was one thing you DIDN'T like about Expedition 33?
With a game that's executed so perfectly, it's hard to find something you'd like changed.
What's one thing you would change if you had the option?
My pick - platforming in this game is the only time I wasn't really having fun. It's never really difficult, so I don't feel accomplished for completing platforming sections, but it's forgettable at best and frustrating at its worst when you are forced to do some janky platforming to progress in a level (looking at you, painting workshop)
Far into Act 2, absolutely loving the game. The only thing I would change...
Please for the love of God give me a map - I'm totally cool with no minimap, but I want to leave no stone unturned and it's really hard to get your bearings in a good chunk of the areas.
Being able to pull up a map with fog of war so you know where you haven't been would have taken away my only complaint about the game, and lore wise it makes so much sense. Wouldn't the expedition want to create a map for those who came after?
I know the devs wanted to keep the HUD clean, so no minimap makes perfect sense. But why can't we pull up a map in the menu??
I'd love to play a spin-off that was smaller in scale
My favorite parts of Death Stranding have always been navigating difficult terrain like it was a puzzle - figuring out the best way to use your ladders, clever shortcuts, and the satisfaction you got after making it through to the other side.
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The second half of DS2, the map really opens up which was cool, but with how much space there was, I almost felt forced to use other modes of travel like zip lines and vehicles. If I wanted to go on foot, the game would have taken ages to beat.
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I'd love a spin off or DLC that was designed with smaller, complicated areas. When making your load out, there could be a "point cap" on how many tools you could bring. IE, this delivery you are capped at 10 points, a ladder is 2 points, a climbing hook is 1, ETC. You'd have to seriously strategize what tools you'd need to complete the mission, and get more rewards based on how many tools you had to use.
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[Highlight] 80 days until the start of the season! Let's remember Reggie White throwing #80 Cris Carter into Warren Moon for the sack
Probably my favorite Reggie highlight
GAD-AB Serum Test results came back high
31m, 5'11", 200lbs
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Ever since I first caught Covid around 3 years back, I've had progressively worsening muscular symptoms. The most debilitating symptom was severe muscle stiffness, which I've always had a hard time explaining to others. It wasn't like I was just tense, it felt like my back, trunk and shoulder muscles were locked into being flexed and could not release.
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A little over a year ago, it was so bad that I spent most of my days lying on my floor because that was the only way I could tolerate it. Sitting up in a chair or a recliner was almost impossible, as with each passing minute my body would get more tense.
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My pain management doctor finally agreed to try Valium after I noticed it helped when prescribed for an MRI - he had tried several muscle relaxants beforehand combined with Clonazepam with minimal impact.
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After the Valium, it was like I got my life back. I'm on 2mg 2x daily, and while the stiffness is still there and I can't sit long comfortably, I can at least do chores around the house, shower on my own, and get groceries.
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I mentioned stiff person syndrome after reading about what diseases respond well to Valium specifically, and he ordered a GAD-AB Serum Test. I don't know if the test was specifically for the gad65 antibodies, but the test said a normal result was 0-5, and mine came back 136.
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He mentioned it's associated with other things including type 1 diabetes, but I have no family history and my blood work over the last three years never showed signs of me having diabetes.
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When we first met, he said he believes I have some sort of post viral disorder, as I was hospitalized with Lyme disease at 17 (multiple bullseye rashes) and got Mononucleosis a year later. Since my symptoms started right after catching covid, this made sense to me.
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I won't be able to see him until late August to discuss the results in more detail - he told me the results make a diagnosis more likely, but isn't enough on its own.
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I'm wondering if my experience is similar to anyone here who has an official diagnosis & if anyone could provide guidance on what to expect next. I've had two EMGs over the years of my legs and arms, but none of my trunk, back or shoulders (doctor two years ago was unable to get results from my shoulder emg because I could not get them to relax - he got pretty frustrated with me which rubbed me the wrong way)
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Sorry for the wall of text, and thanks in advance for any input - I'm not looking for anyone to diagnose me, but I'd like to be more informed for my visit in August
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So discouraged by the amount of posts I see daily about going off meds
I have type one bipolar disorder, and had a manic episode requiring a 3 day stay at the psych ward 8 years ago.
I had watched my Dad go through episodes growing up, and have been dealing with trauma from those episodes that I'm still struggling with today. My first episode was an absolute nightmare and traumatized me, because I put my family and my girlfriend through the same experience I went through growing up.
It took a few tries to get the right combo, but since then I have not missed a dose outside of pharmacy delays in those eight years. The math has always been simple for me - just take these pills every night before bed, and I'm way less likely to have to go through that again.
My Dad went off his meds recently for the first time in over a decade, and now me and my family are picking up the pieces all over again after he had a severe manic break.
It makes me so angry - I had tried having a heart to heart with him several times over the past year and a half because he wasn't acting like himself, but he just brushed me off. It's so hard for me to find empathy in my heart when I feel like he just made a selfish choice because he enjoys mania more than stability.
I have been lurking in the sub a lot more recently because I was hoping to find other people I could relate with, but there are just so many posts where people make it seem like taking their medication is a Herculean task. I have therapy next week for the first time in years, but I've been waiting for months and these thoughts have just been eating me up inside.
I know episodes can still occur while medicated, and I'm not trying to shame anyone who goes through that. This disease will trick you into thinking you don't need them. But I just can't wrap my head around willingly stopping your medications when stable. Or ignoring your loved ones concerns, especially a loved one who shares the same disease.
I'm sorry if this came off as judgemental, but I've had this pent up for a while and just needed to shout into the void.
Update on the water heater of doom
Thank you everyone for the help yesterday.
I've shut off our water heater, and I have a plumber coming out tomorrow morning to replace our current 40gallon heater with a shorter 40 gallon. They will also be replacing the gas shutoff valve as it's rusted tight. As you can see from this pic, we don't have much space to drill a hole higher in the chimney to reroute the current exhaust.
I will be reaching out to my HVAC guy to buy him lunch as a thank you for warning us - I'm so grateful we caught this before something awful could have happened.
Thank you guys for being patient with my questions, I'm admittedly out of my depth with a lot of this stuff, but I'm putting in the time to read the owners manuals on our home appliances going forward.
HVAC guy told me the slope on our water heater exhaust was dangerous
Just had our furnace replaced, and he warned me that while they don't work on water heaters, the exhaust should always be angled upwards.
Our basement ceiling is relatively low (I'm 5'11" and I have to duck down around plumbing and vents) so he recommended replacing the entire unit with a shorter model VS trying to fix the exhaust.
We're new homeowners so this is all new territory for us - how bad is this?
Death Stranding feels like Kojima's "Gorillaz"
Damon Albarn was first known for his band, Blur. After finding some success, Albarn created the Gorillaz for a variety of reasons, one of the main ones being it would allow him to collaborate with a variety of artists he had always wanted to work with.
After dumping over a hundred hours into DS1 and DS2, I had spent a lot of time trying to put my finger on what made it feel so different from Kojima's work on Metal Gear.
Personally, the story is what drew me into Metal Gear Solid. While I enjoyed the gameplay, what kept me pushing forward was trying to see where the story went next, and I felt very attached to the characters in-universe.
Death Stranding however, I loved the gameplay, but the story didn't stick with me like Metal Gear. I think it's because I had a hard time feeling attached to a lot of the characters.
I think Kojima used the freedom he had during development to collaborate with all the people in the industry he had wanted to work with in the past, similar to Damon and the Gorillaz. However I feel like this was a detriment to the games story, as there were too many characters for them to all develop throughout the course of the story.
Wondering if anyone else has similar thoughts - I still love both games dearly.