#all money in records

[taffywabbit]

so like. at what point are we going to stop listening to game companies saying "the game was poorly received and didn't meet our sales targets, and that's why we're removing it from storefronts and taking down all the servers mere months or even weeks after release" for titles that had a long expensive development, were barely marketed, and nobody knew they'd even released until after they heard they were getting shut down and couldn't be played/purchased anymore?

I feel like the prevailing takeaway for anyone who doesn't just conclude "yeah, game was pretty mid, makes sense to me" has usually been "this company just has unreasonably impossible sales expectations and treats every project like a failure if it doesn't print a trillion dollars". but these ARE allegedly experienced business execs who aren't complete idiots, and after this most recent debacle with Concord I'm starting to wonder if a bunch of these "games getting wiped out of existence when they underperform instead of just being allowed to persist as they are and maybe improve with time" cases in recent years might be more of a Warner-Discovery type situation, like nuking an entire animated series or film that was worked on for years and preventing it from being sold because it has to be officially unprofitable for the company to use it as a tax write-off. I look at a game that was worked on for 8 years and only made available for 2 weeks, and it's hard not to see the parallels.

great work, AAA games industry, really normal and sustainable stuff you're doing over there as usual

[dyrpyn]

This election isn't looking great now.

BUT.

There is one thing you must ALWAYS. ALWAYS REMEMBER.

Your two greatest, most powerful weapons against evil, against bigotry and fascism, against hate, against even hate that comes from inside the self...

are Hope, and Spite.

If nothing else can fuel you, let these. Embrace these. Let these consume you, let them become all that you are.

Let Hope help you find light in the little details, silver linings to cling onto with bleeding hands and pockets of joy to admire in every day. Let it inject you with good faith, motivation to spread kindness where it is needed most, and deepening trust that this won't last forever.

Let Spite charge you with fury that carries you to make moves and take actions. Let it lead you to little victories right in the face of evil. Let it fuel you to do the strongest, most meaningful thing you can possibly do in this potential age: Thrive.

With enough reframing of perspectives and looking in the right places, even the most oppressed can find little ways to thrive in their personal communities, to find joy in every day. To forget how bad things are for even a second. To believe and see proof that they can change it all. To cling onto their Hope and Spite.

And THAT is the most powerful message you can send to those who wish to eradicate you.

We are the cockroaches who survive the radiation. We are the banged-up sewer rats who get in countless scuffles and still come crawling out of the tunnels covered in wounds to see the sunrise. For it rises every day no matter what may be brewing underneath its shine.

And we will watch every sunrise together. We will hold hands and sing in our defiance. We will always remain connected through our shared suffering and yet especially our shared Strength.

And with our weapons kept at our sides, we will all make it.

[ghostespresso]

staff logging on to tumblr dot com today

[nelkcats]

Halves company

Danny had a big problem: since a couple of days ago he had discovered that he didn't look good in pictures. He wasn't a vampire so he was actually in them but his eyes always looked bright green, and the photos left an eerie feeling.

His friends didn't mind, and his family much less (they had gotten along much better after revealing the whole secret), the problem was that he was due to take a trip to Gotham soon and he just knew he would have some pictures taken.

A couple of years ago Danny had accepted Vlad's request to "start over" and together they had formed a research company that specialized in several fields, among them: the technological field, advanced engineering, space engineering, and different ecto-related projects, although the latter was not revealed to the public.

Few months later "Wayne Enterprises" seemed very interested in their inventions for everyday life so they wanted to negotiate some deal and dig into their technology. Danny was fine with that, he had created those things to make people's lives easier.

The problem came when Bruce Wayne invited them to a gala, he told them that the "founders" of the company were very elusive about their identity (neither Vlad nor Danny liked cameras much in those days) and joked that it was a shell company for some illegal activities and it was better to check, Danny was not amused about it.

He accepted Bruce's invitation knowing full well that Vlad couldn't meet the challenge (or be polite about it), but once he got to the gala he saw all the reporters and knew he was screwed.

Would it be better to be unsettling or not appear in the photos at all?, he supposed it would be best to avoid all the cameras and say hello to Bruce or Lucius, talk a bit and then leave.

It was supposed to be easy: walk in, say hello, walk out; Of course, his plans had never been perfect, so before he knew it he was seeing the Wayne "kids", and a reporter from the Daily Planet looking extremely nervous.

[whatsjulietslastname]

DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU DON’T WANT TO READ LIFE IS STRANGE DOUBLE EXPOSURE SPOILERS STOP READING THIS JUST SCROLL DO NOT READ THIS CMON YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO PLAY THE GAME AND FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS ON YOUR OWN SCROLL RIGHT NOW

so um. i am NOT buying this game. from the little i saw i can already tell how much of an out-of-character cash grab it is. also, pricefield broke up. i am SO done with this shit. they really should’ve left Max and Chloe’s story (because it’s THEIR story dude this whole thing is so dumb) alone. this is not respecting both endings. r.i.p. Chloe Price you would’ve hated this

[see-arcane]

This part focuses on Quincey in particular instead of everyone, "Quincey raised his eyebrows slightly and looked at her intently", and I wonder if it connects with what he had said before: "And I promise you, too, that I shall make all certain, for if I am only doubtful I shall take it that the time has come!" Because Quincey is the one who always clocks on the situation at hand first, and patrols for threats (and if he spots one he shoots first asks questions later)

He does clock things very fast and takes action just as quickly. When he's facing the right way.

But in this scene, our favorite Texan isn't looking the right way or even reacting safely as much as he is quick about it. Even if his reaction was entirely innocent surprise, the fact that he made clear how ready he was to serve Mina's euthanasia request--seemingly with more readiness than even Dr. Jack Malpractice who must 'steel' himself to the idea--has absolutely stuck in Jonathan's mind.

Hence Jonathan death gripping the kukri as Quincey gets (to his eyes) the wrong kind of interested.

The whole story could have gone very nasty very fast if Mr. 'You've yeed your last haw' Morris had made a wrong move at that moment.

[rojekte]

seeing people's takes about the whole watcher situation is just a bit.... mind-boggling.

i think the apology they posted was good in the sense that they admitted to fucking up and walked back on their decision, and i think the model they've settled on now is a lot more reasonable (having content be released earlier for those who choose to subscribe), but like.... that doesn't mean that no one should've ever been mad at them in the first place???

like seriously, why does it seem like people are looking at a "good" apology and thinking "huh! they sure did apologize well! i guess that means that it was ridiculous for people to be mad in the first place! no one should have ever complained!!". if no one complained, they wouldnt have walked back their decision! they would've kept going with their dumb completely paywalled option!

and thats not even getting into the fact that their financial woes seem to come from completely mismanaging their money - hiring people when they can not afford to and spending more money on "high quality productions" when they cant afford to.... these are core issues that im not sure will be completely fixed by this? but idk.

also, this situation i think has really helped my own self come to terms with the fact that i do not enjoy many aspects of their content. i sorta already knew that considering i can not remember the last ghost files video i watched because i find that shit incredibly boring and overproduced, and even things like too many spirits have become a chore to watch bc they decided to extend the Not That Funny drink making portion when i just wanna hear some funny spooky stories.

anyway i guess my ultimate point here is: im glad they acknowledged they fucked up, but i also am not sure how interested i am in their content anymore in the first place. oh well

[mxwhore]

i realized that ao3 is back on their crowdfunding efforts and while ao3 kicks ass, please try to spare a few dollars to care for gaza or unrwa or the palestine's children relief fund. palestinians are being deliberately starved and israel has shown us time after time that they dont really give a shit about international law, so any cent you can spare matters !

[rukafais]

Boy, Palworld sure is a game that screams "I made this as cheaply as I possibly could, please give me all your money"

[nightingaletrash]

With the interconnection of the dlcs, it'd be great if there was a some reactivity and tangible benefit to leaving Lonesome Road till last, because it'd give the Courier some great ammunition against Ulysses' accusations towards them.

I intentionally set up events that destroyed the Divide? You intentionally set up events that destroyed New Canaan, and could have destroyed the tribes associated with them.

Okay so it wasn't intentional, but my carelessness still caused it? Through your own carelessness, you broke the loop programming on the Think Tank that could have seen them turn their destructive endeavours on the Mojave.

Death passes in my wake? Your pointing Elijah to the Sierra Madre resulted in countless abductions and murders as he tried his damndest to pry open the secrets of the Madre's vaults which was all made possible by the person that told him about it in the first place.

It'd make for some great dialogue and arguments if the Courier could counter with the consequences of Ulysses' actions and how they've had to deal with the aftermath of his actions, and ultimately force him to confront that he has more in common with the Courier than not - that his accusations of them can be turned on him in kind. Neither of them are blameless, and neither of them are innocent, but both of them are victims of one another. And it comes down to whether or not they can find it in themselves to forgive one another and break the cycle, or to fight to the bitter end for vengeance and to gain some satisfaction for all they've suffered at each other's hands.

[cnl0400]

This Is a theory of what I think will happen with the original OBM.

First, I want to clarify that this Is just a theory, and you should take precautions according to what you think Is right. I think everyone should start archiving what they consider important just in case. Companies are not your friends and If Solmare thinks keeping OG/NB Is more expensive than it's worth It, they will shut It down without the input of their users

I don't think they will do an EOS this year. Why? Because the app still brings decent numbers, my source Is Sensor tower. If you're curious, user u/ferinsy posts a monthly earnings table of popular joseimuke/otome games in the r/gacha subreddit, OG always have numbers around 120,000 while NB has irregular income, depending on the month (around 140,000-200,000) I will link the table of anyone wants it

But what I think will happen Is that OG Will stop having shared events soon enough, and the It will be put on life support (commonly what we call maintenance mode)

How long the app will be on maintenance mode? As long as Is profitable, old Solmare game (Moe Ninja Girls RPG) got put on life support for a whole year before being hit with an EOS in 2022. Soon after, the original app MNG VN got put on life support, you can still play the original MNG but not the RPG spin off

Again, this Is just a theory. For all I know, Solmare could be planning announcing that they will shut down OG tomorrow, because they have made really bad decisions since before NB launched. Who knows what will happen?

I don't know what to say, really. An app being shut down Is always tragic but this Is something thats bound to happen with all Live Service games, you can look at the Multiversus controversy, or the Love Live recent EOS, does someone remember AfterL!fe? That game only lasted a year... this Is the sad reality of the game industry now, you basically own nothing now, and it's sad all around.

Share what you like, what you dislike, because one day In the distant future both NB/OG will no longer exist, and they will only be remembered by the love and hate of their users.

[long-suffering-little-spoon]

i survived the gatsby slime tutorial and all i got was a breathtaking show with beautiful costumes and sets and lighting and amazing performances and a banger score. and this second hand suit.

[hanzajesthanza]

dandelion is indeed the worst but if he’s not present in the next book i would legitimately be sorrowful as the whole thing will become a slog . you basically cannot have the “short stories” era-of-the-timeline iteration of geralt without dandelion, it would be like eating unbuttered bread.

though it’s not like season of storms did them dirty, i wasn’t disappointed with it (… with regards to them), but since it’s literally been over 20 years since the saga was finished i’m trying to prepare for any potential reality

[thedawningofthehour]

My mom is losing her shit over Defying Gravity like yes mom this is why every gay in the 2000s loved this musical.

[3liza]

Out of over 100 responses, most groomers expressed frustration.

“We cannot take any more. I groom four to six per day. They take hours just to bathe and dry. They take the slot of two or three small dog appointments. They are not cost–effective or smart for business owners to take, even in good condition, because their hair is so dense and hard to maintain.”

Another groomer said, “I have multiple calls a day for new doodle customers, and 85% of my current customers are already doodles. There are too many to accommodate.”

Finally, one quipped, “I drink more after work since the doodle craze.”

Many groomers simply refuse to groom any of the poodle mix breeds.

“I stopped accepting new doodle clients of any kind this past winter. I make more money grooming small dogs, and it’s easier on my body,” one groomer said.

In addition, several groomers stated that they had instituted a weight limit (usually 40–50 pounds and under) to eliminate all of the larger poodle mix varieties.

More than one echoed, “I’m at my breaking point and will no longer groom any of them.”

[your-stranger-halfblood-things]

Eddie and Jonathan literally making each other cry because the Dead Kennedys CD got scratched and they're blaming each other when it was actually Steve who broke it