I really don't care. They've pushed me out of the market.

But they do have a reason to lower the prices. If they don't become competitive, one of two things could happen that could really hurt them in the long run:
1. They could end up killing their market in several different ways. If people can't afford the hobby anymore, they change hobbies and suddenly PC gaming becomes an even tinier portion of the already niche market. Alternately, developers who know that higher quality hardware isn't available will stop pushing the tech as hard, as nobody can afford to buy and play what they have.
2. They are leaving a huge demand unfulfilled. That's how you create new competitors. If a new company (or, more likely, an existing company in other tech - say, Logitech or Corsair) launched a new line of cards that actually did limit mining performance and sold at 'normal' prices, they could potentially steal the market away from the big names before they had a chance to course-correct. Hell, I could see Facebook doing it through their Oculus brand.

Of course, the big bucks are still the mass sales that come along with supplying a console manufacturer.

Jonjonz wrote on Dec 11, 2021, 07:09:
Bashing unions by mentioning Jimmy Hoffa, is like bashing doctors by mentioning Josef Mengele.

What, you mean one extreme example from half a century ago isn't a good representation of millions?

Hey, Blizzard - nobody trusts you. You've spent decades abusing people and lying about it. Now you say they should trust you? Why should they think you aren't lying now.

Your own employees' first reaction to you is that they need to defend themselves from you. Think about that for a minute.

Rockstar is going the way of Bethesda and absolutely murdering their reputation with their fans. They've rediscovered 'foxing' after twenty years, and they're coming close to discovering that if you fanbase hates you, they won't support you.

Beamer wrote on Nov 10, 2021, 15:38:

RedEye9 wrote on Nov 10, 2021, 15:04:
EA sure knows how to read the room.

I think they do, actually.

The games people here were throwing out were a bit nuts. For one, anyone that cares about most of those franchises is over 40. For another, anyone that cares about those franchises would be irate with anything EA did with them.

And most of them are types of games that have limited revenue options past the initial sale. No premium anything, no cosmetics, minimal DLC, etc. EA wants games that continue to earn after release, and don't pay a whole lot of attention to those that aren't likely to do so.

My thoughts - not wishes - based on what's likely:

Operation Flashpoint, because there are ways to fit it into the current mutliplayer/microtransaction market.

Command & Conquer, as they just 'refreshed' the series in peoples' minds with a remaster (although a strategy game doesn't seem likely.)

My #1 bet:

EA owns System Shock. A live-action System Shock show was just announced last month. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/system-shock-tv-show-in-the-works/1100-6497025/

*shrug*

This is Ubi. They have always blamed others for their flaws, and their support solution has always been to dedicated your PC completely to Ubisoft by stripping off every other piece of software. They've been pushing that crap for *years.*

I had a feeling people would complain. The old GTAs were restrained by the power of the time. Realistic graphics at that scale just weren't possible, so they went with a stylized art style. Everything up through GTA:SA looked cartoony. And when PCs finally had the oomph to make the graphics realistic, they changed the style by rebooting the entire universe rather than just have everything suddenly look different (the old ones were the '3d Universe', the new ones the 'HD Universe.' )

They had completely different art styles and a different feel. With a remaster, they had a choice: They could make them look like GTA 5, hyper-realistic, but they'd be changing the whole flavor and style of the game. Or they could just make the cartoony look they were limited to into the visual canon and maintain the original art style and feel.

I think they made the right choice.

They really are proactive! Every Razer product I've bought has had to be recycled way before it was due.

And that is why change doesn't happen. When fines are a set amount, then when you're rich enough then the worst fines are a tiny hiccup. All too often the fines for wrongdoing are less than the profits from wrongdoing.

Fines as a percentage of gross would be a good start for bringing change.

Ugh, Videosift, ie - the useless thing you have to click through to actually watch YouTube videos.

Valve is like Microsoft. They want to make those decisions for you. They're priority is pushing the current hotness, maintaining the current playerbase of multiplayer games (which different versions dilutes) to push sales, preventing complaints/reviews reflecting problems solved by patches users choose not to install, etc. This overwhelmingly affects only people who have already spent what they're going to spend on a game.

Oh, and it took me forever to figure it out, too, but yes - you have to redeem the code from the in-game store, which means installing the game.

I've also played off and on since it was new. This was one of the best back when it was current. It didn't have the gameplay of WoW, no, but it did a fantastic job of using the setting, of storytelling for an MMO, and with the atmosphere. So no, if you're one of those that just wants to waggle your virtual junk and show off, or brag about damage meters, it's probably not a great game. But if you're the kind that enjoys actually playing, it is (or at least, was) great. It went down hill once Turbine started running it, but all of the content up to that point was, in my opinion, well worth it.

But of course this is still decade-old MMO gameplay, so it isn't exactly current.

91 signatures.

Why is this news?

I'm OK with it being rebooted. The original run was awesome, but they played the jokes into the floor, and they took the storyline to such extremes that there wasn't really anyplace else to take it. They could remaster (and I hope they still do), but if they want to make new games, they needed a reboot (or even a 'The Next Generation', which this could be...)

Donkey_Punch wrote on Aug 13, 2021, 11:09:
San Andreas and Vice City were amazing and I would love remasters.

The only problem is how much of the sound tracks would we lose because of licensing deals that were made so long ago?

GTA 3 didn't have that memorable of a soundtrack, and they hadn't really started licensing the five-star artists they did later. How much is the Scarface soundtrack license going for these days, anyway?

Vice City and San Andreas - yeah, they'll lose some music. But then again, both use older tracks so the licensing is less, and when it finally makes it to PC it'll be the firs thing to be modded back in.

Although I usually got tired of the soundtracks halfway through the games and swapped them out for my own (on-theme) music files.

Agent.X7 wrote on Jul 26, 2021, 22:13:

If you are one of those people who can't accept others because they don't fit your worldview

...goes on to be one of those people who won't accept others because they don't fit his worldview.

Having an open mind is important. But it has to be tempered with Sturgeon's Law: 90% of everything is garbage.

Having an open mind means considering all viewpoints. It doesn't mean accepting them, and if someone's worldview is willfully harmful, you can be open minded and still reject their views as invalid and unacceptable.

And being a racist or a homophobe is willfully harmful. IE - those people have a view that can be safely rejected due to a complete lack of value.

Some people have a funny idea of how real life works. You can't always just quit a job, especially in an industry that is notoriously difficult to get into. You can't always just pack up your spouse and kids and move to where a new job is. You can't always just stop paying your bills, your mortgage, your rent, your car payments. Sometimes, especially if you're starting out in a new career in a tough industry you don't have the choice to quit.

It's called 'responsibilities' and is part of being all growed up.

I don't know why that isn't obvious to some of you. Perhaps too much time in your parents' basement?

$2000+ and a subscription - that's a high price game controller!