jdreyer wrote on Sep 21, 2020, 19:20:

Wolfen wrote on Sep 21, 2020, 18:31:

jdreyer wrote on Sep 21, 2020, 18:11:

Orogogus wrote on Sep 21, 2020, 17:22:

Wolfen wrote on Sep 21, 2020, 16:57:
In early 2000's games were 20-50USD. In 2006ish (when the xbox 360 came out) Microsoft pushed the game prices up to 60. It's been less than 20 years since game prices were hiked up.

Looking at Computer Gaming World's Dec 99 issue, the Chips & Bits ad (PDF p214-215) seems to show PSX games at $40-50, Dreamcast at $50 and N64 games at about $50-60 (including Donkey Kong 64 launching at $60). PC games were cheaper, with Diablo 2 launching at $49.

Adjusted for inflation, a $50 back in 99 would cost about $75 today.

Whoa whoa whoa whoa... nobody here was asking for your logical input buddy.

Spock: "May I say that I have not thoroughly enjoyed serving with humans? I find their illogic and foolish emotions a constant irritant."

Whoa whoa whoa whoa... nobody here was asking for your Spock quotes buddy.

jdreyer wrote on Sep 21, 2020, 18:11:

Orogogus wrote on Sep 21, 2020, 17:22:

Wolfen wrote on Sep 21, 2020, 16:57:
In early 2000's games were 20-50USD. In 2006ish (when the xbox 360 came out) Microsoft pushed the game prices up to 60. It's been less than 20 years since game prices were hiked up.

Looking at Computer Gaming World's Dec 99 issue, the Chips & Bits ad (PDF p214-215) seems to show PSX games at $40-50, Dreamcast at $50 and N64 games at about $50-60 (including Donkey Kong 64 launching at $60). PC games were cheaper, with Diablo 2 launching at $49.

Adjusted for inflation, a $50 back in 99 would cost about $75 today.

Whoa whoa whoa whoa... nobody here was asking for your logical input buddy.

jdreyer wrote on Sep 21, 2020, 15:56:

eRe4s3r wrote on Sep 21, 2020, 12:37:
I am not buying any game that is 60€ (70$)....

Not even Cyberpunk?

Hah, well if they pre-order it they'll get it for 60 now.

In early 2000's games were 20-50USD. In 2006ish (when the xbox 360 came out) Microsoft pushed the game prices up to 60. It's been less than 20 years since game prices were hiked up.

roguebanshee wrote on Sep 21, 2020, 05:06:

jdreyer wrote on Sep 21, 2020, 00:43:

Dacote wrote on Sep 20, 2020, 22:07:

jdreyer wrote on Sep 20, 2020, 21:36:
Had WeChat installed when DreyerDaughter was doing homestay in Chengdu so I could communicate with her. Uninstalled it as soon as she came home, and ended up wiping the phone and doing a factory reset soon after.
There are stories that either TenCent or the Chinese government hold onto the data.

The post is a rare admission by the Chinese regime's judicial agency that it could access private WeChat messages even after users have deleted the corresponding chat history on the phone, which would indicate that the messaging app is storing private data elsewhere.

NPR:

As Chinese technology companies expand their footprint outside China, they are also sweeping up vast amounts of data from foreign users. Every day, millions of WeChat conversations held inside and outside China are flagged, collected and stored in a database connected to public security agencies in China, say cyber researchers.

DreyerDaughter left it installed however, so she could communicate with her host family.

The NSA saves all of the exact same data.
It's a good backup plan if you can afford it.

The US government does not collect all of your texts and store them on a central server. China does.

That is some high quality naivety. Every intelligence agency in every nation collect as much data as they can get their hands on, regardless of local laws. Their reasoning is usually that they need as much data as possible to have a higher accuracy in preventing threats to national security such as terrorists or enemy spies. And even if they do get caught in breaking their nation's laws, they will be right back at it once the waters have calmed.

And with as large amounts of data as we're speaking of here, you should in general not be worried that your local government homes in on a single instance, nor that they're rifling through your personal emails or texts. They are instead using big data analysis tools to find patterns to identify what they classify as troublesome behaviour.

The real differences between totalitarian regimes and most western nations are what they consider troublesome behaviour and what actions they're willing to take.

This. 100 percent.

jdreyer wrote on Sep 21, 2020, 00:43:

Dacote wrote on Sep 20, 2020, 22:07:

jdreyer wrote on Sep 20, 2020, 21:36:
Had WeChat installed when DreyerDaughter was doing homestay in Chengdu so I could communicate with her. Uninstalled it as soon as she came home, and ended up wiping the phone and doing a factory reset soon after.
There are stories that either TenCent or the Chinese government hold onto the data.

The post is a rare admission by the Chinese regime's judicial agency that it could access private WeChat messages even after users have deleted the corresponding chat history on the phone, which would indicate that the messaging app is storing private data elsewhere.

NPR:

As Chinese technology companies expand their footprint outside China, they are also sweeping up vast amounts of data from foreign users. Every day, millions of WeChat conversations held inside and outside China are flagged, collected and stored in a database connected to public security agencies in China, say cyber researchers.

DreyerDaughter left it installed however, so she could communicate with her host family.

The NSA saves all of the exact same data.
It's a good backup plan if you can afford it.

The US government does not collect all of your texts and store them on a central server. China does.

Project XKeyscore existed and some variant of it likely still exists.

jdreyer wrote on Sep 21, 2020, 00:51:

Wolfen wrote on Sep 20, 2020, 23:41:

jdreyer wrote on Sep 20, 2020, 21:36:
Had WeChat installed when DreyerDaughter was doing homestay in Chengdu so I could communicate with her. Uninstalled it as soon as she came home, and ended up wiping the phone and doing a factory reset soon after.
There are stories that either TenCent or the Chinese government hold onto the data.

The post is a rare admission by the Chinese regime's judicial agency that it could access private WeChat messages even after users have deleted the corresponding chat history on the phone, which would indicate that the messaging app is storing private data elsewhere.

NPR:

As Chinese technology companies expand their footprint outside China, they are also sweeping up vast amounts of data from foreign users. Every day, millions of WeChat conversations held inside and outside China are flagged, collected and stored in a database connected to public security agencies in China, say cyber researchers.

DreyerDaughter left it installed however, so she could communicate with her host family.

Out of curiosity are you not using google, Facebook, twitter, Instagram, etc etc etc? I mean nearly everything free... and sometimes even premium is storing your data. I would think that anyone thinking the U.S. doesn't have access to this overtly or covertly is probably a little bit gullible.

I have a Gmail account, but none of the others. I usually surf on a non-logged-in non-tracking browser like Brave with encrypted DNS. I often, although not always, use a VPN.

Is the US gov't trying to hoover up a lot of this? I'm sure that they are. One difference is that in order to access it, they need a warrant. Companies don't automatically deliver customer data to the government, they often fight them in court as Apple and MS have done. Accessing the data without a warrant, and then building a case using other means is called "parallel construction" and it's illegal. Lastly, the US government doesn't try to leverage your browser history in order to affect your social credit score. So there are a lot of differences.

History says otherwise. But I am glad you are at least one of those folks who go all out on the protection of their data and not just talk the trash on it. I am one who doesn't really care so much about what they know about me. To each their own.

jdreyer wrote on Sep 20, 2020, 21:36:
Had WeChat installed when DreyerDaughter was doing homestay in Chengdu so I could communicate with her. Uninstalled it as soon as she came home, and ended up wiping the phone and doing a factory reset soon after.
There are stories that either TenCent or the Chinese government hold onto the data.

The post is a rare admission by the Chinese regime's judicial agency that it could access private WeChat messages even after users have deleted the corresponding chat history on the phone, which would indicate that the messaging app is storing private data elsewhere.

NPR:

As Chinese technology companies expand their footprint outside China, they are also sweeping up vast amounts of data from foreign users. Every day, millions of WeChat conversations held inside and outside China are flagged, collected and stored in a database connected to public security agencies in China, say cyber researchers.

DreyerDaughter left it installed however, so she could communicate with her host family.

Out of curiosity are you not using google, Facebook, twitter, Instagram, etc etc etc? I mean nearly everything free... and sometimes even premium is storing your data. I would think that anyone thinking the U.S. doesn't have access to this overtly or covertly is probably a little bit gullible.

RedEye9 wrote on Sep 20, 2020, 18:54:

Wolfen wrote on Sep 20, 2020, 18:34:
Nice. I am personally glad about this.

So are millions of families that use the program to communicate with their loved ones.

Stop to think I am one of them? I am in China. It's very easy to use this to communicate with my family in the states too.

Nice. I am personally glad about this.

jdreyer wrote on Sep 20, 2020, 16:42:

Wolfen wrote on Sep 20, 2020, 09:43:

jdreyer wrote on Sep 20, 2020, 03:49:

Wolfen wrote on Sep 20, 2020, 00:05:

jacobvandy wrote on Sep 19, 2020, 15:17:
*yawn*

My sentiments exactly.

Hey, how are things on the mainland? I hear that food might be getting pretty scarce over there.

Errr... not sure where you heard that. It's fine over here food wise. At least in Shanghai it is. I haven't heard anyone discussing that except for you. Not even other foreigners here haha.

Huh, I heard the flooding has wrecked a good part of the grain harvest causing prices of rice, corn, etc. to spike. I've heard of army worm and locust infestations eating millions of tons of grain, and a swine flu outbreak that resulted in 180M pigs being killed to prevent spread. Maybe China is upping imports and using the strategic reserve to counteract these so that on one notices.

I am sometimes trapped in the same bubble as everyone else here. Which means I don't always get the news they don't want us to get haha.

Cutter wrote on Sep 20, 2020, 13:20:

Wolfen wrote on Sep 20, 2020, 09:43:

jdreyer wrote on Sep 20, 2020, 03:49:

Wolfen wrote on Sep 20, 2020, 00:05:

jacobvandy wrote on Sep 19, 2020, 15:17:
*yawn*

My sentiments exactly.

Hey, how are things on the mainland? I hear that food might be getting pretty scarce over there.

Errr... not sure where you heard that. It's fine over here food wise. At least in Shanghai it is. I haven't heard anyone discussing that except for you. Not even other foreigners here haha.

Is there tons of great street food around where you are? Noodles, dumplings, etc. That the one thing I wish we could pickup from the rest of the world, way more, way better street food.

They have pretty much done away with street food in Shanghai. You may on occasion see some one selling some fried noodles but it's nothing like it was several years ago. I remember when there were street corners at night that had tables in them and people would be eating street food. Not anymore.

jdreyer wrote on Sep 20, 2020, 03:49:

Wolfen wrote on Sep 20, 2020, 00:05:

jacobvandy wrote on Sep 19, 2020, 15:17:
*yawn*

My sentiments exactly.

Hey, how are things on the mainland? I hear that food might be getting pretty scarce over there.

Errr... not sure where you heard that. It's fine over here food wise. At least in Shanghai it is. I haven't heard anyone discussing that except for you. Not even other foreigners here haha.

jacobvandy wrote on Sep 19, 2020, 15:17:
*yawn*

My sentiments exactly.

I'm going to assume they still won't add left handed support in VR.

I'm not sure if some folks are trolling or not but it's quite clear these guys are literally going for that nostalgia feel. I have been digging some of these games going back to the good old q1 era style shooters and graphics.

RedEye9 wrote on Sep 5, 2020, 15:22:

Rilcon wrote on Sep 5, 2020, 15:12:
Always fun reading comments from people pretending they understand the legal shit involved and speaking in absolutes.

Bluesnews has more IANAL’s per capita than any other internet in the galaxy.

I would of thought reddit had blues beat on that score.

Razumen wrote on Aug 30, 2020, 04:18:

SirKnight wrote on Aug 29, 2020, 22:32:

MoreLuckThanSkill wrote on Aug 29, 2020, 20:51:
I liked the 2016 DOOM quite a bit, finished it and did most of the achievements/challenges. However DOOM Eternal, I think I have like 2-3 hours in it, I'm not liking the microscopic ammo amounts and forced weapon swapping/melee kill stuff as much. Initially it seemed like a cool challenge, now it just feels annoying. I may go back to it later, trying to finish up Death Stranding right now, only I've gotten sidetracked building every possible road in the United States.

Yeah I feel the same way. Being forced to change weapons due to no ammo really killed it for me. I want to use the right weapon for the job if possible, but with Eternal that just doesn't happen. Then there's the excessive platforming which just annoyed me so bad.

I will definitely NOT be pre-ordering id's next game like I did for the past two Dooms.

It's ridiculously easy to stay topped up on ammo, they even give you recharging ammo for the chainsaw.
Not to mention the ammo limits aren't even that low. I'm convinced most people that complain about this can't aim.

Or don't bother to do glory kills. Best way to refill ammo is glory kills. The strategy they are using is really to just force you to get up close and personal more often than they did in 2016.

On the monopoly topic. I'm on the fence. The argument of having other options such as phones is valid. I think it really depends on which definition of Monopoly you consider. Just looking here https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/monopoly gives the impression Apple may fall in there, but at the same time looking at other definitions there make it seem like it's not.

This really is a situation where I think the government needs to step in and make a strong educated determination on the matter.

Now I have been using Apple for about 10 years. Mainly use it because it was a lot easier to deal with in China as a foreigner. But outside of China... or anywhere google isn't blocked I'd be all over Android. Both have their ups and downs.

Anyway. I am curious to see the outcome of all this but it's purely out of curiosity. I won't be taking sides because I definitely think it's just a bunch of big corps with too much money wanting more money. Even though that's kind of like... the purpose of most companies. To make money.

Bill Borre wrote on Aug 27, 2020, 21:34:
I have Observer on EGS. Can I still get that 80% pre-order discount? Or does that only apply to people who have it in their Steam library?

It's not even on EGS for pre-order.