Erf345_ wrote on May 24, 2022, 08:17:
And more and more monopolisation...

"Monopolization" of luxury products aren't really an issue. While you could argue that prices would rise because of "lack of competition", it doesn't have the same results that it would if this were a necessity product. Set a price too high and people stop purchasing because it's not something that is required for everyday life.

That being said, for every major studio there are hundreds, if not thousands, of indie studios out there, not to mention the number of major studios not looking to consolidate with other companies.

As for this particular story, I doubt Apple would succeed in a purchase because a company like EA doesn't fit their corporate image in the slightest, and retooling them to do so would far exceed the return on investment (especially factoring in the platforms and markets they'd want to release for).

Icewind wrote on May 22, 2022, 04:32:
Steam and Gabe Newell worked hard to make their service what it is. Epic just sold their rights to Tencent and pockets fortnite money charged on the credit cards of teenage kid's parents.

I really don't see how Gaben or Steam worked hard... like how most things are done they created a service that wasn't available at the time that allowed them to cement their foothold.

It definitely isn't hard work to be doing the same thing that Epic does without the competing entities.

HoSpanky wrote on May 20, 2022, 12:27:
I've often wondered why the power connectors for video cards are in literally the ugliest spot possible. Why not down near the bottom, where the wiring is far less noticeable? Sure, there's somthing to be said about physical accessiblity when you're making changes, but that's generally rare.

The most simplest answers...cost.

A bit more in-depth....PCB printing is, for the most part (see: non-material costs), a fairly inexpensive thing, however that is because they have created a mass production line of expected layouts. There's also the notion that retooling them to be more 'modular' in layout also means having to determine if the pathways created will be just as efficient as they currently are with things like power delivery, interference, and transmission.

I will say that with the surge of SFF builds, that we might start seeing a delve into having more components created to fit by adjusting locations of connectors...but I'd expect them to be, for now, the exception rather than the rule.

https://twitter.com/leftofcentermi/status/1527390618984402944

I mean, there's an increasingly scary number of people who fall into this line of belief going into various public offices...it's no longer just about costs as it is general safety.

Jonjonz wrote on May 18, 2022, 06:33:
Is so blatantly obvious now that 230 only brings grief.

I seriously hope you don't believe that...

If you do, you can kiss places like this goodbye because I'm sure Blue would rather not be held responsible for what people post here.

Burrito of Peace wrote on May 3, 2022, 12:22:

theglaze wrote on May 3, 2022, 12:02:
Wipeout remains the pinnacle of the genre...

Pfft. Wipeout didn't have Lance Boyle. MegaRace is the undisputed master!

"Hey, welcome to MEGARACE! The action show where violence only happens once... every few seconds. Hi, I'm Lance Boyle and people often wonder if I'm real!"

I remember more of the MegaRace games than I want to admit, lol

Simon Says wrote on May 2, 2022, 16:06:

LOL, what a pile of BS FUD.

For 25 years all the computer repair shops I know in a 100 kilometer radius cloned drives to accelerate the reformat or setup process. I know, I worked or know colleagues who worked at most of them.

They were all "pirated" windows installs. Every, single, one pre-activated using an up to date ISO from a torrent from a known reliable clean source, but still pirated.

In 25 years nobody ever saw any of those "problems" happen anywhere.

How much is MS paying them to babble their stupid propaganda? Or is that ignorance mixed with whatever the heck it is the author has as beliefs?

I'm looking at it through a lens of casual pirates, not those that are pretty seasoned in how to discern problematic sources from clean ones....to which, most of that article is pretty true.

One thing to remember is that for every person who knows how to find clean torrents, there are far more that blindly download things of the likes of TPB without any due diligence.

jdreyer wrote on May 2, 2022, 02:31:

Slashman wrote on May 1, 2022, 19:19:

jdreyer wrote on May 1, 2022, 17:36:
Listening to 3 Moves Ahead, sounds like Dune needs more time in the oven.

It's early access isn't it?

It is, but some games enter EA fairly solid and well balanced, while others are still refining features and gameplay loops. This one sounds like the latter category.

It is a fairly balanced, overall, setup. A lot of people that are talking about balance aren't exactly working out the symbiosis between the councilors and the factions. Which ones you choose are the biggest determinations on how easy or hard an experience is going to be in-game. The overall factions are pretty evened out depending on where you land in playstyle and aggression with their base mechanics though.

Personally, I hope they further flesh out unique aspects of the factions, as the tech tree alone is pretty dull with very minor (basically all but inconsequential) differences between them.

Cutter wrote on Apr 27, 2022, 22:36:

Fion wrote on Apr 27, 2022, 12:12:
Twitch already pays their content makers a pittance next to youtube content creators. Are they purposefully trying to drive them away?

Getting paid to play games isn't work.

Another Cutter hot take, color me surprised...

Streaming is just as much work as anything that is content creation. You wouldn't say a musical composer doesn't do work would you?

Oh who am I kidding, if course you'd say that...

The thing about Ubi+ is that they offer their titles including all the subsequent DLC, usually whatever season pass the game has. Making the $100 version of their games included.

It's a pretty good deal when you look at it like that.

WarPig wrote on Apr 11, 2022, 22:01:

DarkCntry wrote on Apr 11, 2022, 19:55:

WarPig wrote on Apr 11, 2022, 19:47:

I'm with ya Blue, we're still in our 40's and 50's here and about once a week we get into the 60's or 70's.

Today was the worst mid-April day that I can remember here in SE Washington. It was supposed to be fairly miserable - high of 44, with rain and 15-25mph winds - but the rain turned to snow for a couple hours this morning before raining sideways for most of the day while never exceeding the high 30's. April snow is very rare here, but even when it does happen, it usually never sticks around.

The good thing is that this freak storm is supposed to extend all the way into northern California where they can definitely use it.

And just a few days ago it was mid-70's down here in SW Washington....

Where are you, Vancouver area maybe? I'm in the Tri-Cities.
Anyway, usually when we get rain it means you guys get 2-3X more, but not the snow.

Just outside Tacoma

WarPig wrote on Apr 11, 2022, 19:47:

I'm with ya Blue, we're still in our 40's and 50's here and about once a week we get into the 60's or 70's.

Today was the worst mid-April day that I can remember here in SE Washington. It was supposed to be fairly miserable - high of 44, with rain and 15-25mph winds - but the rain turned to snow for a couple hours this morning before raining sideways for most of the day while never exceeding the high 30's. April snow is very rare here, but even when it does happen, it usually never sticks around.

The good thing is that this freak storm is supposed to extend all the way into northern California where they can definitely use it.

And just a few days ago it was mid-70's down here in SW Washington....

Kxmode wrote on Apr 6, 2022, 17:01:

DarkCntry wrote on Apr 6, 2022, 15:11:

Kxmode wrote on Apr 6, 2022, 14:59:
Going early access is like saying, "we don't have enough money to finish this game" or "we under-budgeted." I've leery of early access games from big publishers like Funcom. They should have the funds to release a finished product.

Or as a way to combat people going "well, the game was released unfinished, these devs are hacks".

"A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad." — Shigeru Miyamoto (Apr 27, 2012).

"Early access" encompasses the spirit of Mr. Miyamoto's words for big publishers with the funds and human resources to release a completed product.

It all depends really, if Shiro does Early Access right (which at this point I'm inclined to due to their previous releases), then I see this as a net-positive because the nature of RTS requires a lot of input to balance it correctly...what better way to get mass amounts of input prior to release than to put something into early access?

Kxmode wrote on Apr 6, 2022, 14:59:
Going early access is like saying, "we don't have enough money to finish this game" or "we under-budgeted." I've leery of early access games from big publishers like Funcom. They should have the funds to release a finished product.

Or as a way to combat people going "well, the game was released unfinished, these devs are hacks".

Cutter wrote on Mar 26, 2022, 14:39:
You shouldn't post vids like that duck one. All it does is contribute to the idiots out there who will now go around trying to get their hands on wildlife. Seriously not cool.

More power to them, as they'll try it on either the wrong duck or wrong animal...besides, there's been idiots longer than there has been videos like this, and there will be no shortage of them for the remainder of our time in this universe.

Cutter wrote on Mar 16, 2022, 17:37:

Greentiger wrote on Mar 16, 2022, 16:20:

Cutter wrote on Mar 16, 2022, 16:00:
It isn't remote, it's going to happen. At least as far as taking back control of Congress this fall. The planet may be a nuclear wasteland beyond that so I'll reserve comment about what may happen in 2024. The Dems can keep at it with their diversity political bullshit and they'll keep losing. It's that simple.

Yes, everything is the Democrat's fault so let's just elect Republicans and everything will be fine.

All they do is vilify white people - men in particular - and pander to blacks and women and ignore all other minorities. So yes, it's their own damn fault they keep losing.

I'm white and male, straight even, and I don't feel vilified...

Perhaps it's those that are being called out as racist, homophobic, and particularly entitled that feel vilified for a reason....my wife, whom is also white and straight, doesn't feel vilified either....

El Pit wrote on Mar 15, 2022, 09:45:
How many people are playing it for more than an hour or two after buying it? How are the player numbers?
I wish them luck and success and hope they are not just the next "indie game you gotta have but will never touch or not for long" flash in the pan.

Steam says I have 14.5 hours...I know of at least one other person (the one I'm playing with) has that much...

It's hard to explain, it's fun in its own right but doesn't really do much different than the games it's being compared to. I find it a relaxing experience and sometimes that is all I want for a game, it's fun to play with others who enjoy it, and it doesn't break the bank.

SMITE wrote on Mar 14, 2022, 17:00:

Bill Borre wrote on Mar 14, 2022, 12:20:
Wouldn't it be something if they just chucked this game and instead made a game that was basically a tutorial for how to fight block by block in an urban area against an invading army?

I was thinking something similar, but more along the lines of adding Putin-directed forces as an enemy in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 or even better a Putin-style dictator ...

I think there will be something alluded, but I doubt they'd reference it non-obfuscated.

Weird to think how I've been concerned in the past over whether or not this sequel will live up to the first's well-deserved reputation, while ordinary Ukrainians are concerned with slightly-more fundamental questions like: Will I be murdered today?

Humans, collectively, have a short attention span...by the time the game is fit for release, I'm sure we're going to have a literal smorgasbord of people complaining about it not living up to the 'legacy' while forgetting that the game's development cycle included a war.

RedEye9 wrote on Mar 14, 2022, 00:27:

Hardline Mike wrote on Mar 13, 2022, 22:59:
Jesus, dude went full redpill incel bullshit before this antimask stuff.

You must have seen his youtube and twitter.🤮☣️
He's been too ashamed to post anything in the steam forums for the last 24 hours, probably tired of all the winning.

The dude even pulled the Tucker Carlson method of replying; "why do you ask things like this, does this mean something?" type of rhetoric.

It's insane, cause I actually liked this game back in the day and usually I couldn't give a rats ass about a developer's political beliefs, but c'mon, you put it in the fucking patch notes and then proceed to wonder why people are upset? I guess they really do follow the 'no such thing as bad press' mantra..

WaltSee wrote on Mar 11, 2022, 18:11:
-Snipped for brevity-

Proof some people don't know the difference between sex and gender...

Science doesn't support this wholly narrow view, nor does the remainder of the animal kingdom, but who are we to stand in the way of one of the hottest takes I've read all year.