Fric

Sure, my point was that the game death is mostly an issue with games that are mostly SP in nature, but require an online connection to run. That's the worst thing, they don't make a some sort of a last patch that would enable people to play offline in the end. And secondly games were the MP aspect is significant, but the developer does not give dedicated servers to users, so when the support ends you cannot play MP anymore. E.g. you can run loads of old shooters still, because you can make dedicated servers (RTCW, COD, half-life, old CS versions etc. etc.).

No, it doesn't. If people can run their own servers, even MMOs will still be playable. Granted the experience won't be the same, but that's miles better than the game dying outright with no possibility to play it at all. Well, they will... Lets be real here - e.g. some old rts game or some shooter, yes, why not - a community could make a game session and 10-20 players enjoy it at an evening. For some games those old dedicated servers are still up - I think I read recently that people are still enjoying the old COD games in MP. For most MMOs you need a much bigger crowd to be able to actually play (running around alone can't really be classified as playing imho). MMOs imho is not the problem, their mechanism in the core says, that people one day will move on and the company no matter how good won't be able to keep it up forever. Yes, imho even WOW will shut down one day. Sure it won't next month or next year, but that time will come. Yes, private servers will still be available, but they will be shit and with low interest in them.

Should dead MPs really be added? If yes, than basically add any game that does not have the ability to make dedicated private servers with an option to connect with only IP address. Imho only if there is no single player at all. Same for MMOs - all MMOs die eventually... Their core gameplay means it will die...

It's crazy to me that people actually think like this, anybody should be able to survive in a first world country even while unemployed. It shouldn't be a GOOD life, but the bare minimum to not die out on the streets. Low wages and being homeless is a self-perpetuating cycle that's pretty hard to break out of without outside help. Well, from what we can see (mostly in Europe) its never ending cycle of more and more inefficient social programmes that leads to more and more taxation from those who earn their living. I'm not one of those who says that we need minimal government and everything should be market based. We still need regulation for environment, to reduce monopolies, you need your rights of fair treatment from everybody (the law system), we need public services and protection such as police, firefighthers, education, some basic health care etc. But I am saying that the governments are too big, social programmes often simply do not work. The solution usually is - we simply didn't had enough money and enough social programmes. WE NEED MORE! And than taxes are raised, raising taxes means less purchasing power, more taxes means harder to start a business (including small ones, like hobbies) etc. Its all for what? To try to encourage not working and self degradation as well as economic migrants from Africa, Asia? I also did not say that these people should die on the streets, we need more opportunities for people to work and increase their skills, not social benefits. But sadly its usually not like that. We get more social benefits, more taxation, inefficient social programmes. "Bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy."

A few thoughts on the subject: 1) seeing the minimal wage craze in USA makes me feel it only makes the situation worse. If you keep the minimal wage low and low social guarantees by the state (meaning you have to work to survive, the state won't give you much money), the robots will be too expensive; but if you keep rising the minimal wage on low skilled assembly line type of work, it makes a lot easier to replace the human workforce. Wage vs automation also can be looked at through immigration - countries like UK, Ireland are benefiting from Eastern European workers, who are willing to work for lower wages than locals. This also influences whether companies use more automation. 2) qualification - in my opinion low skilled workers always have had problems with finding job over longer period when the times changes. E.g. if you worked 20-30 years ago in a manufacturing plant, the chances are you spent last 10-15 years without a stable job for very long and you tried a lot of different low skilled jobs. I would urge younger people to develop skills and study things that matter. Of course its hard to tell what will be needed 20 years from now on, but my point being that studying sociology, politics etc. might not be the best idea. Yes, you can make your own services, business with that experience but how many can do that? 1 in 100? Study something that requires extensive learning and knowledge - physics, chemistry, biology, pharmacy, statistics (I mean the real deal, not the watered down versions) etc. Also many things can be learnt for free on the internet. Its all about you actually wanting to do something. It might sound cruel, but if the height of your abilities is to work at Mcdonalds and you cannot survive by yourself, its your own fault. 3) I do not fully agree that this is so much different from before. Just look at how many people were working in industry and agriculture 30 years ago and how many now (I mean per production). Productivity gains with complex assembly lines that require maybe a few operators have replaced hundreds of workers, are through the roof. I'm not talking about the first assembly lines from back in the day.

Valve states itself about EU rights: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=8620-QYAL-4516 Some more info: http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guarantees-returns/index_en.htm

The question is does that line actually do that in a court of law. All ToS can be challenged in a court of Law if they are in a conflict with existing Laws or Constitution (or the appropriate name in your country). E.g. You cannot write in ToS of a site that offers some services and requires that you deposit money into your account that "all your money belong to us and we can take it whenever we want without reason". That would surely violate Laws and constitutions in most western countries. You will be able to challange it in court and most likely will win (depending on the situation, maybe you broke some rules). All these ToS have to be in lign with Laws and constitution.

Actually, that's just the 1961 recording of Blue Moon, not a cover. Because it's an addictive real-world drug that was rampantly abused and shares its addiction with its prodrug heroin, causing many morphine addicts to turn to heroin when morphine is no longer available? That was quite a problem for most of a century, you know. That's how the illicit heroin trade got started. (Also, yes, heroin was invented as a pharmaceutical.) That's the only reason??? I was aware of this, that patients became morphine addicts, that's nothing new to me. I just thought there was something more to it. Damn Ausies (their government)...

Why Aussies don't like morphine?

Yeah, I read about that Argentinian dolphin (or was it a shark?). Stupid people everywhere...

Tyrian for me - most likely because its one of my favourite old games out there.

You mean the original one? They did make day of defeat source - i liked it quite a lot actually.

WW1 does not necessarily mean slower pace tbh. It all depends on how you make it. Yes, there are less weapons and vehicles, but still - you have artillery, you have machineguns, you have air power, you have your first tanks and armored vehicles. It all depends on how they make gun mechanics, how fast movement they make (Verdun - I haven't played it, but the movement feeled slow), how they include artillery and air support in the game), what objectives and game modes they make etc.

True about the launch issues, but than again - it still helps because I can see that many people have issues and you might have to wait a few months. Later when it gets better it will mixed or mostly positive - than I can check that recent reviews are all good.

Haven't read gamespot, ign or whatever reviews for years now. Don't feel like I'm missing anything tbh... Its full of BS. I usually look at steam user ratings. If its very positive - the game must be quite good, if its negative - you know somethings up (either its shitty or there are major issues that prevents you from playing). If its mixed - than it could be good, but need a lot more research on the subject. Combine this with some youtubers and I got all I need.

The goal is to make themselves not liable for damages to the computer, so the warranty never needs to be enforced, at all, ever. My point still stands - unless for some miracle (or a conspiracy) every manufacturer in the world agrees to do that, a competitor will use this as an advantage: "hey don't buy their product because they do not provide any service for it, but we do." Trying to do something like this is just putting yourself at the disadvantage over other manufacturers/sellers.

That does not make any sense tbh... Why would you buy a product that has single use only, if you can buy a competitor's product without it? Its totally impractical and shooting yourself in the foot as a business owner...

Why not try to look for a job instead of playing games? Or learn new skills, study etc? Games are luxury. If you can't buy them because you are too broke you have issues which should be resolved firstly. Then you play. Totally agree. Games (apart from game devs, critics etc. who often don't really actually play that much games) are a product/service we buy to make us happy, to pass time, for entertainment etc. Saying - I want entertainment, but I can't afford it, so I will obtain it illegally doesn't really stand up for reasoning.

I enjoyed Plague quite a lot. Its free with in app purchases. Although at first it may seem - oh you need to buy stuff to beat the hardest difficulties etc. but actually its not that bad, I have won on hard difficulty with all types w/o any purchases (you can use some of the bonuses with watching ad videos before you start the game, this doesn't work in offline mode). The title says it all - you make your own plague to kill everyone on earth. You spend points you get on way to improve infection rates, mortality rates and defense mechanisms.

Do you have an twitch app on your phone/tablet? It reminded me there, that someone whom I follow (Ross) is LIVE now. This seems to be the best way not to miss it in my opinion.

EA teams up with Ubisoft to make that one special super over hyped game, that will have its servers shut down 6 months after release, that we always dreamed about.

About the piracy disucussion - some experiences: 1) Ross's mentioned geographical location - I think this one is very big... I found this info on the web: Just 20 countries or areas from a total of 250 accounted for a staggering three-quarters of total file-sharing activity. The top offenders – relative to population size – were Romania, Croatia, Ukraine, Greece, Poland, Italy, Armenia and Serbia. http://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawoollacott/2013/05/15/finally-some-objective-figures-on-games-piracy/#5995ab893b67 My country is not on this list, but it is (or least was?) is similar position. From my own experiences when I was a kid - I don't even remember if you could buy legal games somewhere... In the 90s and early 2000s (before mass unlimited internet was available) you could buy bootleg games in marketplaces and even some normal stores. Not even talking about the internet. 2) Financial situation (ties closely to geographical aspect). In many countries were piracy is very popular - people simply cannot afford to buy 40-70 dollar games, Its that simple. I remember saving up lunch money for a bootleg game (CD) you could get for like 5-10 dollars, my parents would never buy me a 50 dollar game (assuming you could find one for sale). 3) Internet selling - say whatever about steam, but damn it has increased the sales everywhere... Especially with summer/winter sales where you can get loads of awesome games for barely anything. This together with multiplayer games (more incentive to buy a game that has good MP) has increased sales a lot, I bet there is a lot less piracy than there was like 15 years ago. A pirated game surely cannot be counted as a lost sale, some are, but most aren't because that person either can't afford it or just don't buy games.

Well, not according to Youtube comments and Moon gaming reception. I prefer Ross's game dungeon format the way it has been up until now.

So what I was describing with EU demanding that the US have similar policies as they do isn't xenophobic? Sounds pretty accurate description of xenophobia. Attempting to override another government's control of their own ability to govern themselves because the way the US does it is foreign and strange to the EU. I've encountered people claiming to be Europeans who are basically saying that US should fall back in line and follow the EU's jurisdictions because they can't stand the way the US government runs things within their own country. The US is just as bad in similar regards too and I'm only sighting this as one example so I could focus on xenophobia as a whole and not by specific cases. What you're talking about are slight jabs at other people. Which are totally fine and harmless. Well, Europe have Its laws and USA have their own laws. Is it really Xenophobic to ask that e.g. USA when dealing with EU countries abide by EU laws? That sounds like a normal practice - you go abroad, you are in that jurisdiction. Or are there really cases of e.g. European Commission saying to USA that you should amend that domestic law or else we won't talk to you? Please provide with concrete examples than.

That's new for me too... There's plenty of political and economic rivalry and governmental meddling but that's not xenophobia... Even when I roll my eyes and say "oh, those 'merkins" that's not xenophobia, either... Regards Exactly - I was thinking the same thing...