easymode

WhiteSnake9191 wrote: Apr 16th, '26, 02:47 I really would like a Steam Deck at some point, just at a more frugal price... kinda kicking myself for not pulling the trigger on an actual Steam refurbed OLED one, I have a site that updates me if that particular URL updates, but they haven't been in stock for the OLED ones for a verrrrrry long time now. I mostly want that model for the much quieter fan than the LCD one, and quite a bit better battery life too.

This could be a separate topic... but I had an LCD that I got from someone for a mini PC trade... and I loved it. It just worked. I upgraded to the OLED and sold it... and the OLED is quieter, looks better, etc. but the buttons were terrible. If you take the unit and shake it, the buttons all rattled in their slots... then they would get stuck. I died so many times in platform games. So, I ended up replacing all the buttons with tactile versions and it works perfectly now, but doesn't feel as good. I'm not into the mechanical buttons as much... but at least I can game now.

I don't know if new or refurbs have that issue, but there were way more quality control issues with the OLED buttons. So, just make sure you are OK with tinkering with that.

I wanna start by saying that, although life has been busy, I've really had a great time being here. I'm really looking forward to being part of discussions and getting to know everyone! It's nice to have a place to chat with some really really cool folks.

ward wrote: Apr 10th, '26, 15:56 I don't want to push it heavily though and I am still on the fence about discussing it on Tek Syndicate. There are awesome people there who would surely love it here... but, judging by my moderation que on every video... there are some unhinged people on YT and I'd surely have to ban them here.

Agreed, I think that organic growth is best for these spaces. Seems like we've already had a few spambots come through, so posting about Easymode somewhere that already has eyes on it may facilitate much stricter moderation.

ward wrote: Apr 10th, '26, 15:56 I set up a mailing list and I added a category for community projects. So, if you are working on something (album, book, movie, software, game, artwork, etc.) let me know and I can add it to future newsletters. It's early days regarding my personal need for a newsletter, but I am working on a game and book... and already have the music, so this can all go together. I separated things as well, so users can check-mark categories they care about.

I'm really excited for this! I'd love to keep up with whatever people are working on. I wonder if we could set up a subcategory for people who run their own websites to discuss and share ideas... Not sure if others would be onboard with that.

ward wrote: Apr 10th, '26, 15:56

Game of the Month

I think someone summarized this best by saying, "it's a book club for games." We can get lost scrolling through our libraries... and then distracted by nonsense, work (usually ancillary, unnecessary toil/busy work in my case), and social media. I think this is a great way to discover games while sharing our experiences. I think this was way more of a thing before social media... We'd get a game then talk to others at school or in chatrooms, etc. Anyway, I think it's healthy... but I do think it would work better if we had a few more active members. Anyway, it's ok to start small.

Here are my name ideas: Mandatory Fun or just Game of the Month... Let me know if you have ideas.

I think plain old Game of the Month works! Maybe we could set up a banner along the top of the forum to let folks know about our GotM and do a poll at the end of each month to determine the next game of the month.

ward wrote: Apr 10th, '26, 15:56 Lastly, I'll leave everyone with a question... Sometimes I see a very interesting topic and want to make a video discussing it (probably on easy mode). Are you for or against this? I don't want to make the site about me or only my projects... but I do think I've been talking in videos for almost 20 years and it's how most people found the site in the first place... so maybe it's a good thing. I'll see what you all say now.

I think this would be cool! It could also serve as a bit of a recap for those that can't frequent the forum as much as they would like.

Playing around with the signature, I couldn't find an option to centre-wrap the '[img]' tags so that the sig aligns to the centre of the webpage. Is there an option to do so in case anyone wants to do that?

I personally have just enjoyed shooting the shit with you all and sharing whatever project I'm working on because I got bored and wanted something other than games. I also have plenty of bandwith available for game servers so Im excited to run some other stuff as well. Really want to play Mechwarrior 4 Mercs again.