ToasterToastin'

>implications

Agreed on all fronts. Also, for a franchise that loves its cameos,

It always astounds me when I find a community for an old game that's still producing content. Recently got back into X-Wing Alliance for some good ol' space flying simulator fun and was shocked to see that there's still a small but dedicated userbase that's finding new ways to push the engine... and the game came out in 1999. They're still making ships for it. Can't believe it.

I can't wait to see this scene with some high-def screencaps for a sweet background. One of the most striking, and most memorable, scenes in the entire thing. I also agree with your assessment. Controversial? Yes. Best? No. Worst? Also no.

Hot damn.

Circlejerkery costs an additional $6.95 per month now.

I feel like I should hate it, and placing Tracer on the same level of "classic reference" as the Iron Giant, etc., does a good job of turning me off to it... but they have the Delorean, man. I love that car. I want to see that car in action so badly that I don't care about the rest.

Firefox has been on the way out for me since they decided it was a great idea to change the built-in search menu from "drop down list of search engines" to "type in what you want, then click which search engine." 57 isn't doing them favors, especially with locking the tabs on top (I mean, there's a workaround, but it's a workaround for a feature that shouldn't have an alternative.) EDIT: Oh man, 57 killed Chatzilla too? Maybe I will just roll it back after all. I was going to just get used to it, but that's a major loss for me.

So Patreon is messing with fees. Best I can determine, this kind of screws over the symbolic donor ($1 pledges, etc.), while also screwing over the content creator. However, as a business, I totally see where Patreon's coming from, especially since the flat transaction fees most financial institutions charge for card services fell to Patreon (assuming they do in the online marketplace, that is). Those $1 pledges don't particularly help the content creator (who used to see $0.80 from that dollar, and will now see $0.95), and hurt Patreon's bottom line, since AFAIK the transaction charge is a flat $0.35. Since Patreon only took $0.20 from the old way, that's $0.15 they have to pick up on those $1 symbolic pledges - which are apparently numerous based on the outcry. In bigger chain businesses like Walmart or the grocier, the company's willing to eat the financial institute's fee because most people are buying ~$30 of stuff, or they offer their own in-house credit card where the fee is waived for transactions at the establishment. Smaller establishments (and more frequently gas stations/convenience stores) already pass that fee to the buyer, noting that "A fee of ___ will be added to credit/debit transactions." This seems like that, only people are up in arms because it didn't used to be like that. Does it screw over the pledger? Not if you're pledging actual money, but definitely if you're pledging the $1, since the total monthly is gonna jump 38%. Does it screw over the content creator? Arguably, yes, because while they get more per $1 pledge, there will be a lot less $1 pledges - and $1 is still $1, even if it's low. Something to watch out for if you're using Patreon on either side, at least.

One of my favorite games, and this is a large part of it: It's so campy, running into battle against Giant Insects™ while belting this song, that you can't help but have a good time.

Sounds fun! I'm in. EDIT: Wow, totally missed the actual link when I said I was in. Whoops.

I mean, the theory works pretty well with that mom-and-pop shop down on Main Street competing with Walmart, right?

Thor was quite good. Jeff Goldblum is a menace to society.

Speaking of Loot Boxes and The Companies That Are Facing Backlash, our latest Battlefront 2 news says stocks are down (though competitors' stocks are up, suggesting it's not an overall industry thing). I'm frankly shocked that we're actually seeing something happen. Whether or not it maintains enough momentum to do something in the long term... well, it's cool to see that it's so highly visible, I guess?

Pretty much it. It's a decision that's going to be handled well outside any control I have. I have no say, and I'm not going to delude myself thinking otherwise, so I'm just stocking up on lube for the time being.

I literally just picked up my roommate's Switch from the entertainment system to look and see if Fire Emblem Warriors looks as good as I hoped. It does. And I was one of the few that was a big fan of the WiiU's screen-gamepad hybrid - I preferred playing games on it instead of a TV, for instance, something I'm finding more and more was due to failing eyesight before I got my glasses - so the Switch is amazing for that. I want one really bad but I also want to wait for a sale or something, because I never buy a console full price, just like I never buy computer parts full price, or really anything if I can avoid it. Nintendo's been (understandably) stingy in that regard. Heh, maybe I'll use the money I was setting aside for a ticket (which the officer never got around to submitting, so I think I get a free pass) for one. Meanwhile, Battlefront is the gift that keeps on giving.

Not to mention it's been in for, what, 2 days or so? (or is it only 1?) They already made their whale money at launch. They're also going to eventually reactivate it, which means they still are showing their hand (though I guess it's better than implying they won't? I mean, hardly, but slightly less snake-like.) And... on top of this all, the bought rewards are still in the game, so the whales still have an advantage. EA loses little, and ultimately gets a little PR boost for lofty, inconsequential move.

Gee, I wonder if the returns button on Origin being gone has anything to do with Battlefront coming out today. Gee.

Sometimes I miss the snow. But, then I remember that just because it's cold doesn't mean it's snowing and I stop missing it. Cold without a foot of snow is just awful. At least if there's snow, you have an indicator that "yep, pretty chilly."

I do not see this going well, and that's hilarious to me. Nice to see the stockholders got worried, though, because stockholder worry actually makes EA do stuff. However, again, EA pulls off the censor trick: make something so outlandish that it's sure to be caught by the censors, so they miss the other, subtle things you actually want in. I'm sure the 60,000 was never a final number, even internally, and 75% of that looks nice in comparison.

As much fun as it is to deride EA, the fact that they're getting attention at all feeds their goals, and thus their pockets. There is no such thing as bad publicity, after all.

You say that like you need your dermal layer.