Katie "Oz" Payn
@katiepayn.com
Creative Lead and Project Manager for The Aether Project
28 🎉
she/her
28 🎉
she/her
Now watched as much preview coverage of Prime 4 as I can find
My official reaction is - I like Mackenzie
Hes a goofy lil guy and I greatly look forward to seeing more of him and seeing him interact with other Federation survivors
Do think they maybe need to tone down the gameplay chatter tho
My official reaction is - I like Mackenzie
Hes a goofy lil guy and I greatly look forward to seeing more of him and seeing him interact with other Federation survivors
Do think they maybe need to tone down the gameplay chatter tho
November 15, 2025 at 5:09 AM
Now watched as much preview coverage of Prime 4 as I can find
My official reaction is - I like Mackenzie
Hes a goofy lil guy and I greatly look forward to seeing more of him and seeing him interact with other Federation survivors
Do think they maybe need to tone down the gameplay chatter tho
My official reaction is - I like Mackenzie
Hes a goofy lil guy and I greatly look forward to seeing more of him and seeing him interact with other Federation survivors
Do think they maybe need to tone down the gameplay chatter tho
I am once again feeling very out of touch with Metroid fans.
Maybe it's cope but I dont see the problems people are citing and certainly dont believe anything Prime 4 is doing is a "betrayal" of the franchise.
Did yall just not like Prime 3 either? Im very confused.
Maybe it's cope but I dont see the problems people are citing and certainly dont believe anything Prime 4 is doing is a "betrayal" of the franchise.
Did yall just not like Prime 3 either? Im very confused.
November 14, 2025 at 5:24 PM
I am once again feeling very out of touch with Metroid fans.
Maybe it's cope but I dont see the problems people are citing and certainly dont believe anything Prime 4 is doing is a "betrayal" of the franchise.
Did yall just not like Prime 3 either? Im very confused.
Maybe it's cope but I dont see the problems people are citing and certainly dont believe anything Prime 4 is doing is a "betrayal" of the franchise.
Did yall just not like Prime 3 either? Im very confused.
Woops made the mistake of checking reddit for discussion about Pluribus
Lot of people just flat out not understanding the concept of the show I feel
Maybe sci-fi hiveminds/superorganisms generally being evil and psychologically destructive as a default has poisoned people's understanding
Lot of people just flat out not understanding the concept of the show I feel
Maybe sci-fi hiveminds/superorganisms generally being evil and psychologically destructive as a default has poisoned people's understanding
November 8, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Woops made the mistake of checking reddit for discussion about Pluribus
Lot of people just flat out not understanding the concept of the show I feel
Maybe sci-fi hiveminds/superorganisms generally being evil and psychologically destructive as a default has poisoned people's understanding
Lot of people just flat out not understanding the concept of the show I feel
Maybe sci-fi hiveminds/superorganisms generally being evil and psychologically destructive as a default has poisoned people's understanding
Watching Tron Ares again with an eye for what side plot and comic relief characters are actually critical to the tone and story is very illuminating cos OH BOY you can just cut ALL that shit out and you'd be left with a significantly more coherent and interesting film as a result.
November 2, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Watching Tron Ares again with an eye for what side plot and comic relief characters are actually critical to the tone and story is very illuminating cos OH BOY you can just cut ALL that shit out and you'd be left with a significantly more coherent and interesting film as a result.
Kirby Air Riders looks like the best game ever made
So excited
So excited
October 23, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Kirby Air Riders looks like the best game ever made
So excited
So excited
Loving Legends Z-A
Hate and I mean HATE the PvP game mode. Just the most unbalanced miserable waste of time. Everyone just one shotting eachother with no rhyme or reason and a score/progression system that feels basically random.
I got to Rank K, got the mega stone, and noped out.
Horrible
Hate and I mean HATE the PvP game mode. Just the most unbalanced miserable waste of time. Everyone just one shotting eachother with no rhyme or reason and a score/progression system that feels basically random.
I got to Rank K, got the mega stone, and noped out.
Horrible
October 20, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Loving Legends Z-A
Hate and I mean HATE the PvP game mode. Just the most unbalanced miserable waste of time. Everyone just one shotting eachother with no rhyme or reason and a score/progression system that feels basically random.
I got to Rank K, got the mega stone, and noped out.
Horrible
Hate and I mean HATE the PvP game mode. Just the most unbalanced miserable waste of time. Everyone just one shotting eachother with no rhyme or reason and a score/progression system that feels basically random.
I got to Rank K, got the mega stone, and noped out.
Horrible
Embarrassed to admit I really enjoyed Tron Ares
Jared Leto is unpleasant to look at and listen to and the dialogue is consistently terrible but the audiovisual experience is absolutely stellar
Guess Im gonna be an Ares defender now
Deeply embarrassing
Jared Leto is unpleasant to look at and listen to and the dialogue is consistently terrible but the audiovisual experience is absolutely stellar
Guess Im gonna be an Ares defender now
Deeply embarrassing
October 16, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Embarrassed to admit I really enjoyed Tron Ares
Jared Leto is unpleasant to look at and listen to and the dialogue is consistently terrible but the audiovisual experience is absolutely stellar
Guess Im gonna be an Ares defender now
Deeply embarrassing
Jared Leto is unpleasant to look at and listen to and the dialogue is consistently terrible but the audiovisual experience is absolutely stellar
Guess Im gonna be an Ares defender now
Deeply embarrassing
Reposted by Katie "Oz" Payn
You can't logic your way out of being burnt out. Unless you're me. Who should be able to do it and it's a personal failing that I can't
October 13, 2025 at 9:39 PM
You can't logic your way out of being burnt out. Unless you're me. Who should be able to do it and it's a personal failing that I can't
This is what Ive been banging my head against a wall for between business stuff and future opportunities for future cool stuff
Dungeon soon!
Dungeon soon!
Up late working on dungeon bits and bobs
Will have more to share in the near future, likely concept art first but generation systems are coming along nicely so maybe some in-game structure testing too!
Cannot wait to get a new dungeon into everyone's hands
Will have more to share in the near future, likely concept art first but generation systems are coming along nicely so maybe some in-game structure testing too!
Cannot wait to get a new dungeon into everyone's hands
September 28, 2025 at 2:38 AM
This is what Ive been banging my head against a wall for between business stuff and future opportunities for future cool stuff
Dungeon soon!
Dungeon soon!
Xenoblade X being an open world entirely uninterested in level scaling and progression gating high level content is genuinely super refreshing and has reinforced my absolute hatred of level scaling in open world design.
September 19, 2025 at 1:29 AM
Xenoblade X being an open world entirely uninterested in level scaling and progression gating high level content is genuinely super refreshing and has reinforced my absolute hatred of level scaling in open world design.
A little art piece I did today of Karthuul, The Aether's Sun Spirit, from when he first entered the Aether posing as the Valkyrie God Arkenzus. Over time he dropped this act and removed pieces of his golden armour, eventually being revealed to be an alien monster made entirely of fire and light
September 17, 2025 at 5:26 PM
A little art piece I did today of Karthuul, The Aether's Sun Spirit, from when he first entered the Aether posing as the Valkyrie God Arkenzus. Over time he dropped this act and removed pieces of his golden armour, eventually being revealed to be an alien monster made entirely of fire and light
I have been informed that maybe I am just gay and a woman on a motorbike is very appealing to my lesbian brain
Perhaps gamers are intimidated by how hot Samus on a bike is 😂
Perhaps gamers are intimidated by how hot Samus on a bike is 😂
Metroid Prime 4 looks awesome and Samus on a rad motorbike is the coolest thing ever
Feel like I'm going insane seeing some of the reactions online
When did cool things suddenly become bad?
Feel like I'm going insane seeing some of the reactions online
When did cool things suddenly become bad?
September 13, 2025 at 2:39 AM
I have been informed that maybe I am just gay and a woman on a motorbike is very appealing to my lesbian brain
Perhaps gamers are intimidated by how hot Samus on a bike is 😂
Perhaps gamers are intimidated by how hot Samus on a bike is 😂
I keep getting kinda upset about Prime 4 discourse online with people saying it looks like shit and speculating wildly that it's going to be a terrible vast open world based on nothing
However
However
September 13, 2025 at 1:58 AM
I keep getting kinda upset about Prime 4 discourse online with people saying it looks like shit and speculating wildly that it's going to be a terrible vast open world based on nothing
However
However
Metroid Prime 4 looks awesome and Samus on a rad motorbike is the coolest thing ever
Feel like I'm going insane seeing some of the reactions online
When did cool things suddenly become bad?
Feel like I'm going insane seeing some of the reactions online
When did cool things suddenly become bad?
September 12, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Metroid Prime 4 looks awesome and Samus on a rad motorbike is the coolest thing ever
Feel like I'm going insane seeing some of the reactions online
When did cool things suddenly become bad?
Feel like I'm going insane seeing some of the reactions online
When did cool things suddenly become bad?
Excellent thread and newsletter about profitability in the genAI space
Premium newsletter: A 8500 word analysis of how everybody is losing money on gen AI, with some startups spending 100%+ of their revenue on compute. Even GPU providers are struggling, with years-long time horizons to break even, if profit is even possible.
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www.wheresyoured.at/why-everybod...
Why Everybody Is Losing Money On AI
Hello and welcome to another premium newsletter. Thanks as ever for subscribing, and please email me at ez@betteroffline.com to say hello.
As I've written again and again, the costs of running genera...
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September 7, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Excellent thread and newsletter about profitability in the genAI space
Reposted by Katie "Oz" Payn
Rollin' Rascal continues to look absolutely excellent! Can't wait to dive into the new demo level and really excited to hear they'll be releasing the game in chapters as they go so we can play finished content earlier, definitely the right call for a crowdfunded game imo
youtu.be/enyKyAmKZC4
youtu.be/enyKyAmKZC4
Rollin' Rascal Rundown 8.29.2025
YouTube video by Curiomatic
youtu.be
August 29, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Rollin' Rascal continues to look absolutely excellent! Can't wait to dive into the new demo level and really excited to hear they'll be releasing the game in chapters as they go so we can play finished content earlier, definitely the right call for a crowdfunded game imo
youtu.be/enyKyAmKZC4
youtu.be/enyKyAmKZC4
Stressing about money is made so much worse by literally everyone around you assuming your work makes way more money than it actually does 😅😭
Would be really nice to be able to do the work I love and also be financially stable, but we seem to be a ways off from that still
Would be really nice to be able to do the work I love and also be financially stable, but we seem to be a ways off from that still
August 28, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Stressing about money is made so much worse by literally everyone around you assuming your work makes way more money than it actually does 😅😭
Would be really nice to be able to do the work I love and also be financially stable, but we seem to be a ways off from that still
Would be really nice to be able to do the work I love and also be financially stable, but we seem to be a ways off from that still
Finally picked up Xenoblade X (and preordered Legends Z-A) as a birthday treat, I cannot overstate how impactful the UI improvements and new facial models are to making Xenoblade X a palatable experience. Looking forward to sinking my teeth into it in my free time.
August 25, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Finally picked up Xenoblade X (and preordered Legends Z-A) as a birthday treat, I cannot overstate how impactful the UI improvements and new facial models are to making Xenoblade X a palatable experience. Looking forward to sinking my teeth into it in my free time.
Reposted by Katie "Oz" Payn
crazy that i grew up having people tell me "you'll get more conservative as you get older, you'll see" and instead i'm like one post away from an fbi visit every day
August 25, 2025 at 3:30 PM
crazy that i grew up having people tell me "you'll get more conservative as you get older, you'll see" and instead i'm like one post away from an fbi visit every day
About to rewatch Spinal Tap in the cinema for my birthday!
Had a lovely day with some friends but very excited to laugh at the silly bullshit in a theatre haha
Had a lovely day with some friends but very excited to laugh at the silly bullshit in a theatre haha
August 24, 2025 at 5:59 PM
About to rewatch Spinal Tap in the cinema for my birthday!
Had a lovely day with some friends but very excited to laugh at the silly bullshit in a theatre haha
Had a lovely day with some friends but very excited to laugh at the silly bullshit in a theatre haha
Finished grinding out the Terarium Club upgrades for Pokémon Violet's DLC. Which consists of earning 12,000 BP via the absolute dogshit BBQ mission system. It took fucking days and was the most boring shit Ive ever done just so I can expand my Pokedex enough to do a side quest (and get the starters)
August 22, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Finished grinding out the Terarium Club upgrades for Pokémon Violet's DLC. Which consists of earning 12,000 BP via the absolute dogshit BBQ mission system. It took fucking days and was the most boring shit Ive ever done just so I can expand my Pokedex enough to do a side quest (and get the starters)
10/10 design
absolute ugly bastard
love it
absolute ugly bastard
love it
Serebii Picture: Official render for Mega Victreebel www.serebii.net
August 21, 2025 at 1:26 PM
10/10 design
absolute ugly bastard
love it
absolute ugly bastard
love it
Reposted by Katie "Oz" Payn
What's funny is that all these GenAI companies could actually just embed compression-resistant patterns into their output that would cleanly make their stuff identifiable, but they don't, because they don't want to, because they want their slop to make everything unusable.
August 21, 2025 at 6:55 AM
What's funny is that all these GenAI companies could actually just embed compression-resistant patterns into their output that would cleanly make their stuff identifiable, but they don't, because they don't want to, because they want their slop to make everything unusable.
Reposted by Katie "Oz" Payn
Trying to imagine the size of the player base in a Venn diagram where the two circles are people who actually played Disco Elysium for more than an hour and people who don’t know ZA/UM is a money laundering operation for the Estonian mafia that fired the people who created Disco Elysium
August 19, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Trying to imagine the size of the player base in a Venn diagram where the two circles are people who actually played Disco Elysium for more than an hour and people who don’t know ZA/UM is a money laundering operation for the Estonian mafia that fired the people who created Disco Elysium