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LeafTheTreesAlone, do games w Saints Row developer Volition permanently shuts down

I think they would have done well if they did not stray so far after SR2. It’s fun fooling around and being wacky in a game that has realism to it but when the game is built solely around being wacky it’s just boring.

CoderKat,

I don’t agree at all. SR3 and 4 were peak for me. I don’t want a game that feels like it lives in the shadow of GTA. SR4 really had it’s own personality and it was a ton of fun for me.

ramblinguy,

SR3 was the top game for me. SR4 was a bit too much, but SR3 felt like it hit that sweet spot of goofiness, insanity, and just enough realism for me to keep me invested in the world

Carighan,
@Carighan@lemmy.world avatar

they would have done well if they did not stray so far after SR2

And yet their successful games were SR3 and SR4, when the games could stand on their own instead of needing to tag along with GTA for publicity.

DeathWearsANecktie,

SR 1 and 2 were the best because they were like GTA, I don’t consider it a bad thing. 3 and 4 were a bit boring for me because Steelport was one of the dullest cities I’ve ever seen in a game.

WagesOf, do gaming w Microsoft Teams is now part of the Xbox Game Bar so you can stream gameplay to friends - The Verge

I wish Microsoft would have actually been taught a lesson about anti-trust bullshit rather than having a pro oligarch new administration let them off scot free

mikey, do gaming w Microsoft Teams is now part of the Xbox Game Bar so you can stream gameplay to friends - The Verge
@mikey@talk.neovibe.app avatar

I hate using Teams at work… I definitely don’t want it for my gaming too.

NOT_RICK, do games w Microsoft and Asus’ Xbox handheld appears in leaked photos
@NOT_RICK@lemmy.world avatar

Pretty ugly lookin tbh

gramie, do games w The System Shock 2 remaster comes out June 26th

I’ve probably played through it 5 times, using different skill trees.

SnotFlickerman,
@SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

I just want it to still have co-op so I can play with a friend who uses a different skill tree and we can complement our skills.

random_character_a, do games w Microsoft is combining “the best of Xbox and Windows together” for handhelds
@random_character_a@lemmy.world avatar

Are we getting another windows 8 without start menu again?

UprisingVoltage, do games w Microsoft is combining “the best of Xbox and Windows together” for handhelds

the best of Xbox and Windows together

I am beyond thrilled

!Big fucking /s!<

halcyoncmdr, do gaming w Twitch banned Dr Disrespect after viewing messages sent to a minor, say former employees
@halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world avatar

Not a Doc watcher, not a big fan, but the Internet’s hard-on for taking claims at face value even without any actual evidence pisses me off. Public opinion doesn’t require innocence until proven guilty, but it’s a good idea. There have been enough situations of people lying about shit for some personal gain, especially lately.

I have only seen one situation that seems to match ALL of the claims from the hearsay on the Twitch side, because NONE of the people tweeting are first hand sources (they are repeating what they’ve heard from others), that matches Doc’s comments about it, AND the fact that there were no criminal charges filed (these are public record). Because otherwise if it is true at face value, that means Twitch actively helped cover up the fact a streamer was messaging minors like that, AND paid the the contract price as if THEY violated the contract, which certainly has a morality clause in it that Doc would have clearly violated if that were true.

  1. Doc was exchanging messages with a user via Twitch Whispers.
  2. Twitch thought this user was a minor through internal information, like previous messages/chats, account info, etc. but not something another user would have access to.
  3. The conversation itself did NOT include information about whether the user was a minor.
  4. Doc would not have known that user was a minor, because it was not in the conversations.
  5. Twitch acts on the information they have, cancelling the contract under something like a morality clause.
  6. Doc would have no idea why he was suddenly permanently banned without any warning if they acted on this information without contacting him prior.
  7. Through the litigation it is determined that either the user was in fact NOT a minor, or they WERE but Doc would not have a way to know that based on the messages alone.
  8. That would mean Twitch, not Doc, had violated the contract by unilaterally cancelling it, and would need to pay it out, AND that there would be no criminal act to prosecute, hence no wrongdoing, even if he DID message a minor.
  9. Depending on the wording of the NDA for that settlement, he almost surely cannot talk about specifics, hence the vague legalese responses, because that’s the limit of what he’s allowed to say without Twitch also agreeing to release more info. That settlement likely leaves Doc’s ban in place in exchange for paying out the contract, Twitch not admitting anything, and Doc likely wouldn’t want to continue working with them after a reaction and contractual cancellation of that magnitude without even an attempt at contact.

That would fit all of the “facts” as we have heard them from every party, without any criminal charges, with Doc getting paid, and Twitch officially silent. The largest red flag for the “he knew he was messaging a minor to meet up” is no prosecution at all, not even a paper arrest and charges later being dropped. There was never any public legal involvement, which indicates there was never an actual crime, which is what is being claimed.

Also, Cody tweeted multiple times advertising his band’s show and stating if it sold out he’d talk more about it. So at that point, he basically loses all credibility as far as I’m concerned, not using it as marketing for his shows. Without hard evidence it not just looks like a way to try and boost his band’s sales while he knows everyone will be talking about him and looking him up.
x.com/evoli/status/1679536544863113217
x.com/evoli/status/1730588093907161579

pancakes,
@pancakes@sh.itjust.works avatar

Not sure why you seem so personally invested but he admitted to it so a lot of this conjecture is moot. There’s links to his statement ITT.

halcyoncmdr,
@halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world avatar

Not sure why you seem so personally invested

There’s nothing personal, I just expect accusations like this to have real evidence. All the “evidence” we had through Twitter was hearsay, and we’ve all played telephone before. Hearsay is no different than gossip, and it quite often is incorrect, that’s why it’s not admissible in court. Sorry for actually wanting proof of egregious claims instead of just trusting a former employee, who already had questionable trustability, and who was using the publicity to promote their own shit. Not exactly a great source of accurate information.

he admitted to it so a lot of this conjecture is moot. There’s links to his statement ITT.

My post here was made around the same time his tweet was posted. In fact looking at the times, it was posted here the same minute of his last edit. So, no chance to have even seen reports about that response yet, nonetheless read it.

rozodru,
@rozodru@lemmy.ca avatar

this is all null and void. Guy Beahm himself admitted he was talking inappropriately to a minor. he knew who he was talking to and the age of the victim. case closed.

Lath, do gaming w Microsoft says it needs games like Hi-Fi Rush the day after killing its studio

They want more, but cheaper.

blahsay, do games w EA just added classics like Dungeon Keeper, SimCity 3000, and Populous on Steam

If it needs origin I’m not interested

loudWaterEnjoyer,
@loudWaterEnjoyer@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

It does not

therealjcdenton, (edited ) do games w Epic is giving away 17 games as part of its holiday sale

Nice try fed, still not gonna get on their app

CapnJazzHandz, (edited ) do gaming w Former Kotaku writers are launching a new video game site — and they own it this time
@CapnJazzHandz@beehaw.org avatar

Between this and Remap continuing with essays & journalism… I am one happy dude. I’m hopeful that there is still a space for writing in the video game area.

NuXCOM_90Percent,

404 Media (formerly Motherboard at Vice) are generally more “tech news” but they are similarly going down that road (and it sounds like they actually worked with the Remap (formerly Waypoint at Vice which worked closely with Motherboard at Vice and were in a similar org structure) crew to iterate on the model).

And what it will actually entail is unclear, but Gamers Nexus similarly brought back their written article website to provide more information on hardware reviews and so forth. Also sounds like it will be a venue for longer form pieces similar to their Artesian Builds video.

d4rko,

What is Remap? I can’t find out

MJBrune,

Remap radio with Patrick Klepack.

CapnJazzHandz,
@CapnJazzHandz@beehaw.org avatar

Remap is what Waypoint turned into. Waypoint was a video game vertical/section through Vice Media. It was Patrick Klepek, Rob Zacny, Ricardo Contreras, Renata Price, and Austin Walker at one point. Klepek, Zacny, & Contreras started Remap to carry on their brand of video game analysis (very thoughtful, far-left leaning, and often times focusing on smaller and older games).

Nioxic, do gaming w The Elder Scrolls VI will skip PS5 and isn’t coming until at least 2026

30 fps on a not very good looking game full of bugs

Cant wait to pirate it

MJBrune,

I never get this stance. If it’s not worth paying for even on sale it’s not worth your time to play or pirate.

butter,

Disagree. It takes very little time to pirate something. Anything.

Also, there are a lot of numbers between 0 and 60 that someone may be willing to pay to play a game. But for a modern game with DLC and stuff, more like 120.

MJBrune,

Why support our play those games. There are developers and games out there that are far better than the AAA mess that gets delivered year after year. There are more games on itch than you could play on your lifetime but you’d rather waste time pirating games that you don’t like enough to pay for.

I used to do that a lot and realized that most of the games I played weren’t worth my time.

Also most games go on sale for at least half off. So if there is another price point you want, just wait. Actually support the developers.

interolivary,
!deleted5791 avatar

It’s like the gamer equivalent of hatefucking. I don’t get it either.

Like, if you know you’re not going to enjoy something why the hell force yourself to do it, if it’s just going to end up with you complaining about it on the internet?

butter,

I should clarify, I haven’t pirated a game since prototype 1. At least a game that I could buy. I have pirated games I have emulated, but this is clearly a different thing.

You can also use pirating to send a message. If a company does something really bad, like loot boxes or micro transactions, you can pirate take money they likely got from someone who’s addicted to gambling.

millie,

Why is everyone so worried about what other people play? Weirdly controlling.

MJBrune,

I’m more against pirating and using excuses to justify it rather than what other people play. If it’s not worth paying for and supporting the developers it’s not worth your time to play.

millie,

Piracy is literally the only method by which a lot of media is preserved in the era of subscription services and abandoned properties. It’s a public service that ensures that some of the most significant art of the last century isn’t lost.

The archives of pirates are a digital museum for a culture that can’t be bothered to preserve its own legacy.

MJBrune,

preserving it years to decades after release is vastly different than pirating and playing it the same year or 2 after release. Also when it comes to preserving it, nothing stops you from actually buying a copy and preserving it personally for yourself. If this conversation was about preserving the games it’d be very different but it’s not, it’s about taking a game without paying for it. In the end, you are just trying to justify stealing from artists.

noobdoomguy8658,

You’re not buying a copy, but a license revocable at any moment, not to mention that you need a service to leverage that license, too, so when that service either dies or prevents you from accessing what you paid for, you can kiss goodbye to it, and your only option is to cash out again.

MJBrune,

Still doesn’t prevent you from giving developers money for their work.

noobdoomguy8658,

I’m actually not giving them shit because they’re salaried and have been (undner)compensated for their labor during the course of their employment. They’re not going to suddenly eat less if I simply don’t pay for the product - this is identical to watching a trailer of a game and then deciding that you’ll completely ignore the game; no purchase was made, yet no property was stolen, because the game is still intact. It’s not the same as coming to a store and stealing a copy, preventing others to pay for it and bring profits for the store.

MJBrune,

Again more excuses. It all depends on the scale of the studio. Lots of studios give bonuses and profits to the workers for them taking a smaller salary. Getting it for free means you likely would pay for it on sale just to check it out. Lots of the games profits come from lower sale prices. You are stealing because you would have paid for it in some way otherwise. You might argue you wouldn’t but we both know that’s a huge lie, if it’s not then it’s not worth playing at all.

noobdoomguy8658,

I’m sure you know better than I do what I’d spend money on to be so confident in your claim that’d I’d pick up on a sale Anyway. Not to mention that sometimes you just don’t have the option to purchase the digital product because the vendors aren’t selling it you, as is the case with some counties and companies.

Some practices also just don’t sit well with you and you’re basically voting with your wallet by not paying for the game.

As for the theft argument, let’s say you have an expectation that I should you give you a certain sum of money, but it’s just that, an expectation - like I promise to wire transfer you billions of dollars, plus some fees and taxes, but I never do; did I just steal from you? You have absolutely everything you had before, but didn’t receive the money you were expecting.

Or I made an identical copy of something you have and am now using it, too - you still have the original, though, you’re no worse off in any way because the original object is still cometely intact, and I would have never gotten it otherwise if it wasn’t for the identical copy that took you no effort. Did I take the original from you, i.e. stole anything from you?

MJBrune,

Listen, you’re going to make all the excuses you can to protect your mental state. It’s fine. I used to pirate almost every game that came out and then I realized what I was doing. You might or might not one day figure it out for yourself but at this point, you aren’t engaging in good faith.

I’ll leave you with a simple video www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM2R5xV3bbY think of it in the same vain as pirating a video game and you might see how artists aren’t able to continue living off of the games they make.

noobdoomguy8658,

Except I’m not profiting off the games I pirate, and neither does anybody else these days (hasn’t since 00s).

You don’t even see the dissonance in your arguments: you’re trying to tell me how bad it is and how nobody should pirate of they can’t or don’t want to pay, but the benefactors don’t get paid either way, but I case of the latter, we’re somehow not talking about ripping someone off; it’s a sale that’s not being made either way, and assuming that the people pirating the content would’ve bought it if it wasn’t for piracy is just wrong as evident by a lot of research done on the topic.

I still haven’t seen your arguments as to how exactly it hurts people outside not closing the deal that, again, wouldn’t have been closed anyway had piracy not been an option.

MJBrune,

it’s a sale that’s not being made either way, and assuming that the people pirating the content would’ve bought it if it wasn’t for piracy is just wrong as evident by a lot of research done on the topic.

That’s not true at all, the only decent study to suggest that was a self-reported survey done by the EU that has since been debunked.

corsearch.com/…/does-piracy-impact-sales-a-look-a…

Determined to make an objective inquiry, the researchers looked at 25 studies on the subject. Nearly 90 percent of these studies (22 out of the 25) found a statistically significant, harmful impact of piracy on sales.

Except I’m not profiting off the games I pirate, and neither does anybody else these days (hasn’t since 00s).

So first that isn’t true, people pirate games and stream/create videos of them to gain views which converts to monetization. Second, we can both agree you gain something. Does money have to be the thing you gain to see it as wrong or does enjoyment count as well? Or are we in such a monetary society that we must have monetary gain from work you didn’t make for it to be wrong?

Overall, the end of it is 1) even if you pinky promise that you wouldn’t have bought the game (the fact you would play it says otherwise because if you would enjoy it then it’s really a dollar price argument, which is covered by sales but ignoring that obvious flaw in your argument…) you 2) still end up contributing to a culture that makes it easier for people to get games for free. You can’t speak for all pirates and there are clearly many (90% of) studies showing that these folks are reducing sales numbers. 3) as we have seen just copying something can hurt something. This is why trademarks and copyrights even exist. It’s why the courts don’t stop at monetary gain. If you break copyright even for personal use, legally the copyright holder can come after you. Sometimes pirating produces an inferior copy of the game. People going to the pirated game to even judge it to see if they should buy the full game means the developers are hoping that the pirates didn’t completely ruin the binary somehow. Demos exist for a lot of games out there since Steam started Next Fest which features demos of games. Steam has a 2-week or 2-hour of game-time refund policy. The excuse of “I just want to check it out” for pirating is debunked.

So as a game developer, pay for our games. If you can’t afford it, message us. Give us insight into what is fair. If your region is unfairly priced, let us know! That stuff is automatic on Steam and sometimes really unfair. Price points can be adjusted until you can feel happy with your purchase. A lot of indie devs simply want people to enjoy their games fairly. After all, we all still have to eat.

noobdoomguy8658,

So as a game developer

Oh, now that’s the real culprit! That honestly explains a lot in this conversation and makes me see you less of a corporate ally for absolutely no good.

As for the “piracy le hurts” reports, I’m really not surprised that you were able to find these, mostly debunking anything stating otherwise. As if we didn’t live in the massively lobbied society where corporations and money-turners have much more leverage than anything else to manipulate the popular opinion on anything that “hurts” them, be it anything legit or simply perceived.

So first that isn’t true, people pirate games and stream/create videos of them to gain views which converts to monetization.

I don’t really know where you got that from, as any content creator that has any worthwhile numbers to make their monetization off of pirated content a problem, in fact, never mentions anything positive above piracy. Following your logic, though, are these content creators supposed to share their revenue with you if their content is based on your game?

Second, we can both agree you gain something. Does money have to be the thing you gain to see it as wrong or does enjoyment count as well? Or are we in such a monetary society that we must have monetary gain from work you didn’t make for it to be wrong?

By that logic, I can’t share games with my friends and family, because while they get some fun time, they pay nothing for the game. I’m sure that’s an absurd idea even in your books - consider every pirate my friend and family, especially when it comes to distributors and publishers I have zero respect towards. Sometimes a game is made using and promoting damaging practices, and while the game is good in its own merits, I choose not to support the developers or decision-makers monetarily.

While I’m at it, you seem to think that I just don’t for any games, like, ever, which I assure is not the case - I have a massive Steam library and some games I bought in EGS and GOG, many of which I deliberately bought as a thank you and a sign of respect only after I’ve played/beaten their pirated copies.

Demos, though, are still a minority. Starfield doesn’t have a demo, neither does Cyberpunk 2077, nor most (if not all) games that have prices so high that people even consider piracy in the first place. You strike me as a smaller developer that I may actually find during Steam Next Fest (love these, by the way, barely skip any), and you may provide demos, for which I say thank you, and it may even earn a purchase from me specifically; however, it still is an exception more than it is a rule these days.

If you have any games on Steam, I’ll be happy to check 'em out, either during a Steam Next Fest or otherwise. Most likely, you’re not charging an absurd amount of money on a bunch of lies and predatory practices, and if that’s the case, I won’t think twice about paying for a digital revocable ticket that I can only access via a single gateway (being Steam), but you won’t suddenly find yourself with less money if I simply choose to ignore your game, and you certainly won’t start losing money from your bank account if I download multiple copies for free or even make multiple copies of a legally purchased one.

But if you’re Bethesda, telling me that I can do impressive rounds of exploring in your game for dozens or hundreds of hours, or even months, or even years, but I have to pay at least $60 to enjoy the game… only to find out that this massive selling piece was a lie and once I’ve seen one POI, I’ve basically seen every POI of that type, down to enemy, object, and loot placement, yet you’re still going to sell me DLC(s) and expect the community to patch the game for free, then sorry (not sorry), I’m not going to spend any money on your product and make you think that treating your customers like that is okay in any capacity. Is it possible that I enjoy the game despite such flaws? Yes, but it doesn’t mean it’s worth the money for me, not now, not later, because it’s a predatory marketing strategy built on deceiving your buyers, and if you believe that pirating games hurts the companies that are supposed to receive the money, then I’m happy to pirate their games thousands of times to punish them for being absolute dickheads.

The reports and courts supporting those with the big wallets in this regard is identical to how climate change is still a prevalent problem that’s being put on shoulders of people like you and me, while oil and gas and tech and other industries get subsidies, leverage, and bail-outs from the governments.

MJBrune,

Oh, now that’s the real culprit! That honestly explains a lot in this conversation and makes me see you less of a corporate ally for absolutely no good.

I don’t really see anyone defending corporations for no reason. Everyone defends their own way of life or potential way of life.

As for the “piracy le hurts” reports, I’m really not surprised that you were able to find these, mostly debunking anything stating otherwise. As if we didn’t live in the massively lobbied society where corporations and money-turners have much more leverage than anything else to manipulate the popular opinion on anything that “hurts” them, be it anything legit or simply perceived.

I understand your point but that’s kind of a weak, non-factual way of debunking them which what I linked goes into details and facts.

I don’t really know where you got that from, as any content creator that has any worthwhile numbers to make their monetization off of pirated content a problem, in fact, never mentions anything positive above piracy. Following your logic, though, are these content creators supposed to share their revenue with you if their content is based on your game?

I’ve seen it with a few streamers, it’s uncommon but it happens. Now we are also seeing the rise of paid pirating platforms which are clearly making money off of others’ work as well.

By that logic, I can’t share games with my friends and family, because while they get some fun time, they pay nothing for the game. I’m sure that’s an absurd idea even in your books - consider every pirate my friend and family, especially when it comes to distributors and publishers I have zero respect towards. Sometimes a game is made using and promoting damaging practices, and while the game is good in its own merits, I choose not to support the developers or decision-makers monetarily.

Yeah, that’s absurd but the point is that clearly there is a line there and it’s not yours to draw. It’s the copyright holders. Some people offer Steam family sharing, being there physically or sharing a Steam account requires 1 copy of the game and can only be played by one device at a given time. That’s the line developers draw and it’s on us to determine how we want to share our artwork. I think that’s pretty fair. If I make something, I can determine how I share it, it’s not up to anyone else to take my creation from me, even if that means I don’t lose the original copy.

While I’m at it, you seem to think that I just don’t for any games, like, ever, which I assure is not the case - I have a massive Steam library and some games I bought in EGS and GOG, many of which I deliberately bought as a thank you and a sign of respect only after I’ve played/beaten their pirated copies.

To be honest, I’ve met a lot of pirates who don’t buy a single thing. There are certainly lots of pirates who do not buy anything for whatever reason.

Demos, though, are still a minority. Starfield doesn’t have a demo, neither does Cyberpunk 2077, nor most (if not all) games that have prices so high that people even consider piracy in the first place. You strike me as a smaller developer that I may actually find during Steam Next Fest (love these, by the way, barely skip any), and you may provide demos, for which I say thank you, and it may even earn a purchase from me specifically; however, it still is an exception more than it is a rule these days.

Price is relative. I’d also think that demos aren’t a minority anymore by count but by AAA release, you don’t see many demos because they don’t need a demo. Most people will watch the marketing or gameplay videos and decide from coverage. The smaller indie developers (yes, like myself, I tried AAA for a while and felt like a cog, go figure) need demos to prove their game is worthy of a purchase and thus they feel to me that they’ve become more common. Although most multiplayer games can’t really have demos.

If you have any games on Steam, I’ll be happy to check 'em out, either during a Steam Next Fest or otherwise. Most likely, you’re not charging an absurd amount of money on a bunch of lies and predatory practices, and if that’s the case, I won’t think twice about paying for a digital revocable ticket that I can only access via a single gateway (being Steam), but you won’t suddenly find yourself with less money if I simply choose to ignore your game, and you certainly won’t start losing money from your bank account if I download multiple copies for free or even make multiple copies of a legally purchased one.

www.underflowstudios.com/games These are the games I’ve worked on. The Away Team: Lost Exodus is the one that I’ve made within my own studio. It’s likely to be so small to not even have a pirated version. You can buy it on Steam or Itch, DRM-free and with the majority of the code for the missions, characters, and textures in loose files to allow for modification. It’s completely DRM-free and in theory, you can buy it on Itch, and get a Steam key. Both versions will provide you with a game that’s just raw files. I choose to draw my line around consumers having a lot of freedom but I also respect those who don’t.

But if you’re Bethesda, telling me that I can do impressive rounds of exploring in your game for dozens or hundreds of hours, or even months, or even years, but I have to pay at least $60 to enjoy the game… only to find out that this massive selling piece was a lie and once I’ve seen one POI, I’ve basically seen every POI of that type, down to enemy, object, and loot placement, yet you’re still going to sell me DLC(s) and expect the community to patch the game for free, then sorry (not sorry), I’m not going to spend any money on your product and make you think that treating your customers like that is okay in any capacity. Is it possible that I enjoy the game despite such flaws? Yes, but it doesn’t mean it’s worth the money for me, not now, not later, because it’s a predatory marketing strategy built on deceiving your buyers, and if you believe that pirating games hurts the companies that are supposed to receive the money, then I’m happy to pirate their games thousands of times to punish them for being absolute dickheads.

I mean at that point why play it though? I figured you’d just see the gameplay videos and move on. Maybe you want to go in entirely blank? Honestly, and controversially I feel the same about a recent purchase I made, Red Dead Redemption 2. I played 26 hours and feels like I barely played 2 hours worth of enjoyable content for myself. That said, my friend’s dog did the mo-cap for the dogs in the game and it’s nice to see.

The reports and courts supporting those with the big wallets in this regard is identical to how climate change is still a prevalent problem that’s being put on shoulders of people like you and me, while oil and gas and tech and other industries get subsidies, leverage, and bail-outs from the governments.

I can’t disagree. You should always look at these reports and rulings yourself and form your own opinions.

noobdoomguy8658,

We’re getting really lengthy here, and while that was fun while it lasted, we’re clearly both set in our ways, so I’ll answer to only a few topics that don’t simply revolve our beliefs. I know we’re just going to back and forth, ultimately saying “I’m right, you’re wrong” anyway.

I mean at that point why play it though? I figured you’d just see the gameplay videos and move on. Maybe you want to go in entirely blank? Honestly, and controversially I feel the same about a recent purchase I made, Red Dead Redemption 2. I played 26 hours and feels like I barely played 2 hours worth of enjoyable content for myself. That said, my friend’s dog did the mo-cap for the dogs in the game and it’s nice to see.

You’ve proven my point by saying that despite having spent 26 hours playing the game, barely 2 of them were worth it, and no Steam refund is going to listen to your definition of the amount of hours that count for an actual refund. You had no demo to try, and no amount of gameplay videos is going to answer the questions like “How would I play the game?” and “How would I enjoy that?”; to a certain extent, demos don’t either, because they’re not a complete experience and complete experiences count, but they’ll definitely give you a much better feeling of whether you should spend your money on the game.

That’s one reason to pirate a AAA game: you know you might like it, but you don’t want to become a metric on another chart for the sharks to pat each other on the back and say “See? We did it! We were right! They bought the game!”, even if for a 0.001% of the original price.

Kudos for casting your dog there, though. Good boy/girl.


I’ve seen it with a few streamers, it’s uncommon but it happens. Now we are also seeing the rise of paid pirating platforms which are clearly making money off of others’ work as well.

Now, we all generally denounce people making money off any sort of pirated content, be it cinema, books, games, or anything else. It’s about a lot of things, really, but none of them is profit - certainly not these days.


Yeah, that’s absurd but the point is that clearly there is a line there and it’s not yours to draw. It’s the copyright holders. Some people offer Steam family sharing, being there physically or sharing a Steam account requires 1 copy of the game and can only be played by one device at a given time. That’s the line developers draw and it’s on us to determine how we want to share our artwork. I think that’s pretty fair. If I make something, I can determine how I share it, it’s not up to anyone else to take my creation from me, even if that means I don’t lose the original copy.

I buy a book you wrote. Would you insist that I don’t share that book with anyone else and instead tell them to go get their own copy? You’ll most likely say ‘no’ once again, that’s something we both agree on, and a game is no different. Nobody is taking your book away from you, it still is yours in every regard, but you don’t get to control whether people can lend it. It’s sharing, i.e. caring, and sharing often leads to increased sales and exposure through various channels.

You even said it yourself that “there is a line there and it’s not yours to draw”, yet in the same paragraph you say “If I make something, I can determine how I share it, it’s not up to anyone else to take my creation from me, even if that means I don’t lose the original copy.”

Make what you will of it, but you stumbling like that over there clearly shows how neither approach is universally correct and simple, especially given the amount of people and their individual circumstances involved in each case of sharing, piracy, or buying a single copy exclusively.

noobdoomguy8658,

It’s not about being worth playing - it’s about not being worth the money asked for, along with the scummy practices. Sometimes it’s a stance.

And for some, it’s purely financial decision.

MJBrune,

Games go on sale faster than any entertainment. All you really have to do is wait. Hell to play starfield is 10 dollars. That 10 dollars also gets you access to hundreds of other games.

noobdoomguy8658,

For some, $10 is not a sum they can spend on non-essentials. Some don’t want to wait for various legitimate reasons. Some want to be able to try the game out before making up their mind on whether they’ll pay for it. Some just don’t care about giving money to a massive corporation that’s definitely not suffering from the lack of money, for one reason or another: one of them, a very prominent one, is to avoid supporting the greedy corporate practices with your wallet, such as the lack of proper optimization and control over the graphical fidelity wrapped up in the “Oh, we just wanna preserve the look for everybody” bullshit.

Lastly, if you really insist on defending paying against piracy, you should know that pirates either never pay in the first place, so it’s not like some poor big corp lost some sales, or they’re one of the most consistently paying customers for a given media, as has been the case for decades now.

As for whether $10 is a lot… it’s really not up to you to decide when someone can or cannot afford to spend their money on. Not to mention that there’s no reason to defend a company that has more money than you can imagine, ripping off its employees only because of greed rather than lack of funds, yet they still decide to outsource basically the entire game to a gazillion of other studios, resulting in a game that’s kinda good, but very flawed with massive inconsistencies and “play it safe” decisions coupled with good-for-nothing premium editions and confirmed upcoming DLCs only to squeeze more money out of their consumers.

MJBrune,

So if this was an indie game you’d never pirate it?

noobdoomguy8658,

If the game’s worth it and I can easily obtain it legally at a sensible price, the pirating the game isn’t my first urge for sure… Again, if I pirate something I was never going to buy in the first place for one reason or the other, there’s no theft to speak of.

Maybe I could transfer you several billion dollars right now, plus some change to cover up for the fees and taxes that may come up, but I just don’t - would you say I stole that money from you? You probably wouldn’t, because that was just a expectation and you never had the money in the first place, so there was no way for me to take it, and the fact that you expected to have more, didn’t get anything as a result, and did not actually lose anything does not constitute a theft.

azurefirefly, do games w Destiny 2 has one of the worst bugs in its history that’s melting bosses and PvP players
@azurefirefly@lemmy.basedcount.com avatar

Man I miss destiny but I can’t play it cause Bungie are paranoid blaming the wrong group (Linux users) as hackers so blocked us from using it, and even if I could I wouldn’t play it out of principle because of what they’ve done to it. It still has the best shooting out of any game I’ve played, but the stuff you shoot at isn’t interesting anymore

azurefirefly, (edited )
@azurefirefly@lemmy.basedcount.com avatar

Looked at the store, man how much do you have to spend to get the content? $100 for light fall and the battle pass, then $30 for Gjallahorn, then another $30 for some other dungeon and new supers and then $100 more for the new expansion. That’s $260, it’s cheaper to pay for Final Fantasy XIV monthly and get a $60 expansion for a year. That’s not including all the past dlc either

taanegl, do games w Saints Row developer Volition permanently shuts down

And another studio hits the dust. So long! We hardly knew yee. At least be grateful you haven’t ended up in the Call of Duty mines, like Raven.

RoverRacecar,

Be grateful they don’t have jobs?

gamer,

Just because the studio shut down doesn’t necessarily mean they lost their jobs. Often (especially for a giant publisher like Embracer), talent gets moved to other studios since it’s easier and cheaper than hiring new people.

But when you’re part of a smaller studio, you have creative control and freedom you don’t get when you’re a cog in someone else’s machine. People who go into this industry typically are looking for that more than just a salary, especially since other non-game jobs usually pay better. Although, idk what Volition was like internally, so maybe it sucked to work there.

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