@nikolistary: Maybe so, but Bethseda doesn't deserve to get that money. It should just be burned instead. I mean saying, "Anyone who buys this deserves to lose their money" isn't really taking into consideration that that 'deservedly lost money' goes into Bethseda's pockets, which they interpret as making a good game. This only encourages more of the same
@mdinger: China is a communist country about as much as North Korea is a Democratic Republic (North Korea's official name, to them anyway, is Democratic People's Republic of Korea). It takes more to be communist than simply slapping the name on front. Behavior-wise, China is WAY closer to capitalism than communism.
I hope they shut loot boxes down. I hate those things. I simply don't believe that money going towards making more loot boxes and garbage you can 'win' by paying tons of money doesn't adversely affect the development of games and the industry as a whole. Does anyone really believe that people wouldn't prefer just being able to directly buy the item they wanted rather than be 'surprised' if I get it from a loot box? Honestly, good items are the -reason- people buy loot boxes, not the 'surprise' of it.
Had the video game companies regulated themselves, this might not have turned into an issue. But they found an area of law that hasn't really caught up to the times and decided to exploit it as much as they could before it got fixed. This is the same exact behavior they fight to stop on the games they release: someone exploiting a shoddy loophole in their game to profit in some way, before they can fix it. Jesus, loot boxes ramped up so quickly it was like they knew it wouldn't last and they needed to get every cent they could.
I much preferred it when you either got everything on the game when you bought it, could buy new things in packaged products where you knew what you were paying for, or the ability to just by any specific thing you wanted. This rolling the fucking dice a hundred times, paying for the privilege, trying to get something I want is awful and predatory. Not that I personally buy this garbage, but every second a game development team is trying to come up with new ways to nickle and dime gamers to death is a second they could have been making actual new games.
How is this very different than the comics? Weren't the Skrulls originally a peaceful race who were attacked and betrayed by early Kree and forced into learning warfare and requiring them to become more ruthless to survive? Yeah, they're largely remembered as villains now, but this really isn't the major separation from the comics the author seems to think
@lostn: While it may be true that they can't directly target him with lawsuits (although I'm not convinced they can't either), they might be able to legally compel him to reveal his source. Trade secrets are protected, and whoever leaked it to Sabi might be held accountable. This would motivate Sabi to keep quiet, he doesn't want to end up hurting his sources or risk losing others if he sells out some. I am pretty certain that he could be in trouble for not revealing who is giving out trade secrets (that the leaker, I'm assuming, has signed NDAs for). As far as I am aware he's not a credible "press" representative and may not be protected by the same things reporters are. And hell, even -they- can be locked up indefinitely for not revealing sources in certain situations.
@Thanatos2k : Sorry, but I have to snicker at this. I suppose all those little quarter vending machines at supermarkets (the ones where you get a prize out of a plastic bubble) is gambling too. Kids definitely use those things hoping to get specific items, and just have to hope they get lucky. Baseball cards too, any sports card really, gambling ("I want to complete my set and I need to just keep buying packs until I get it").
@harrypothead: Well, that may be true, but it's also pretty simplistic and doesn't address many of the issues that can arise from an announcement like that too early. Currently, it's an announcement and "laying the groundwork" for "future" projects. That tells us a few things:
1.) It's an announcement, not an actual deal.
2.) Presumably while some jobs will be lost, many people at Sony/Playstation will remain during and after the transition.
3.) Until the deal is finalized and put into action Sony, again presumably, will be continuing most business as usual.
Making some bold announcement way too early and without proper explanation just scared the shit out of Playstation. Now, the board may not have to give two shits what they average employee has to say on the issue, but they do care what the masses of them have to say. If a lot of playstation/sony employees suddenly jump ship for new, safer, job opportunities and they lose some key members, there would be every reason to believe the deal would be killed before it got off the ground. Not to mention loss of morale and the existential fear of job loss could drive productivity into the ground. Working under the phantom sword of Damocles does -not- raise productivity, it encourages rushed out products and half-asses ideas.
You can bet your ass over the next few days these statements will be clarified over and over, both internally and through public media. Sony, at least, is going to have to at least attempt to placate a workforce that may be suddenly concerned about their jobs.
So while it is true that the board doesn't technically have to care what their workers think; only a very foolish person would discount them all. Especially when it's still a hypothetical future "deal" that could always fall through all on its own. The last thing you would want is a staff that feels betrayed.
@Decoy77: For some reason that misunderstanding reminds me of Shadowrun Returns game. In Character development it asked for your "street name" and I wrote "Andover road" (the street I live on, which I immediately thought was an odd question). It turned out that by "street name" it meant the code name you operate on the streets under. So the entire game every character kept calling me "Andover road". It's funny how it didn't bother me much in the beginning, before I knew my mistake. I just thought it was an incredibly stupid way to pick a nickname, but whatever. Ha ha, turned out the joke was on me. By the time I figured it out I was far enough I didn't want to restart, but it all of a sudden felt like he damn game was mocking me after that point.
@Decoy77: You bastard. I had to look up AOC cause I thought it was some in game reference I couldn't remember. I thought, "There's no way he's talking about Ocasio-Cortez" Then I did a Google search for "AOC world destroyed", and lo and behold you DID mean her! You made me read something about real-life politics!
*Disclaimer: I don't have any problem with AOC, I don't care about her at all. I was just expecting something like AOC World Destroyed coming up as something like ffVI's World of Balance/World of Ruin (I was thinking Age of Cataclysm although I was wondering how I could have forgotten that*
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