Katana314

@Katana314@lemmy.world

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Mastercard release a statement about game stores, payment processors and adult content⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago⁩:

  Thing is…I think both claims are correct.

  Mastercard and Visa are not the only middle-men; the only “payment processors” involved in making sales.

  Next time you check out at a cafe, look at the branding of the tablet/software the cashier is using. Chances are, it wasn’t developed by the cafe owners, or by MC/Visa. That’s a payment processor. There’s some big ones out there that can be hard to avoid.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why did thousands of adult titles just disappear from the biggest PC gaming marketplaces?⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Counterpoint: The really good journalism sites won’t report an issue the moment a rumor comes up. It often turns out a good amount of the rumor is overstating or misrepresenting the issue. They can lose a LOT of credibility if even one statement is wrong. So, they take time to research every fact before putting out a report.

  Gaming news sites often have slow days, so they’ll take the risk. But several have already had to retract statements on the recent censorship for getting things completely wrong. Example: Many people thought Mouthwashing was just removed from Itch. In actuality, it had been removed long ago for a misstep where they had linked to their Steam page.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[Megathread] Payments Processors & Collective Shout VS NSFW games⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  I don’t think that’s really the distinction in adult businesses - entertainment companies often use those same dark patterns around trials/subscriptions. Maybe some adult businesses do too, but that’s not unique.

  My understanding is that the higher rate is related more to the product and customer behavior, rather than the seller’s behavior. By some trend, customers are more likely to refund a hentai tentacle game than a regular platformer.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[Megathread] Payments Processors & Collective Shout VS NSFW games⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Not an authoritative source, but a Redditor claimed that the term “payment processors” is being misconstrued in a way that could misdirect blame. Visa and Mastercard have given some people responses claiming they take no position on adult content, and it’s possible they’re telling the truth.

  Basically, payment processors by this guy’s definition are lesser known companies that handle other middle level processing; like Stripe, PayPal, or Heartland, as well as many others you’ve never heard of. And, what makes the debate difficult with them is that they’ve always viewed adult content as a “risky” subject - due to higher frequency of support cases, chargebacks, general frustration, etc. As such, some processor that sell their service to adult businesses may charge higher rates - rates that stores like Steam or Itch are probably less willing to pay for 90% of their library.

  Take that summary with a grain of salt as it’s only based on rumors and indirect industry knowledge. Not an indication people shouldn’t complain, since Visa/MC could still choose to take a stance and investigate wrongdoing, and might not be totally honest; but it’s possible the full blame will go to other specific businesses.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Petition to tell MasterCard, Visa, and activist groups to stop censoring legal fictional content⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Something I’d like in a perfect world is legislation to fight back against general “contact unavailability” of large companies.

  I generally recognize that there are lots of people that call for simple stuff that they could’ve checked online. That said, there has to be a legislative median that ensures people with serious concerns can follow some path to contact some sentient person. Heck, even just to serve them lawsuit papers.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨A Hellraiser video game. What do you all think?⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Haven’t there been many Cthulu Mythos games? I’m sure they’re able to find veins of storytelling that have some big reveals, but don’t necessarily conclude with successfully defeating the Cenobites.

  There could also be secondary antagonists tangentially related to them, right? I thought the antagonist for most of the first Hellraiser was some other kind of disciple that got cast out.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨mentoring⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  I mean, just to put in basic terms, would you agree most young men should aim to be kingpin of their own casino, and have women falling over themselves to lick their jeans? And that anything less than that is a failure?

  I’d imagine you don’t. And by that, you’re rejecting their goals. If your politics offers to people “Here’s how everyone can make a livable wage”, you’re pushing a much “meeker” goal on them than their ego is shooting for.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[VIDEO] Japan Sanctions Visa after the Censorship of Anime and Manga⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  I only linked to the YouTuber summary because the article was in Japanese. Certainly it’s the better source if you can read it.

• [VIDEO] Japan Sanctions Visa after the Censorship of Anime and Mangayoutu.be ↗
  Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩ to ⁨games@lemmy.world⁩ | ⁨41⁩ ⁨comments⁩
• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Rumor: Star Wars Outlaws Sequel Canceled By Ubisoft⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  I still want to borrow this game from my library to see how it is.

  It’s probably bad, but it also has a list of things that can color some people’s opinions before they’ve played it.

  • Female, non-gorgeous lead
  • Star Wars related
  • Made by Ubisoft
• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader dev Owlcat comes out swinging in support of Stop Killing Games: 'Every player deserves lasting access to what they’ve paid for'⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  accidentally drops rare copy of indie game into a sewer grate

  aw, fuck. I can’t believe I’ve done this.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Ubisoft's annual report dictates that the consumers are the problem⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  I mean, I just take it in the tone of voice people use to congratulate communities for positive community impact.

  “Look at how clean this river is now! So many members of the community showed up to contribute, and I’m proud of you all! You did this!”

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨First they came for steam, then they came for itch.io .⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Imagine mail-order catalogs of hentai games on CD-ROM, or even cheap flash drives, in 2025.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Itch.io is delisting NSFW games due to pressure from payment processors⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  The thing is, I actually appreciate the idea of “de-objectifying” people in terms of fictional design; but I want that to be encouraged as part of the creative expression. A sexy female character with an identity and story behind her is a lot more fun to me than one just created to have big boobs. Heck, those same design principles can help design sexy men that appeal to female/gay groups.

  But needless to say, forcing those views as part of these acts isn’t helping anyone. It’s just exerting forceful control, and we know how well that works for art.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Itch.io is delisting NSFW games due to pressure from payment processors⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Plus, I thought NSFW works were a large market driver. Back in the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray war, they said the winner would be determined by the porn producers.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨I just went onto reddit to a intrest subreddit which happens to be NSFW and i got this, fuck reddit im glad i quit it.⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  The world and the internet are so low on trust, I kind of wish there was some entity we trusted.

  Some website where you could upload a photo, and people would actually know for sure that all the site is going to do is compare the photo to an ID, verify you’re over a certain age, and send a simple boolean “Yes” to the website that wanted to know if you were over-age. Or, to somehow know that your account is human and not a duplicate.

  We could do a lot with that, but as it stands, no person or entity can ever really be trusted with that kind of data; I think most wouldn’t even trust the same governments that issue those IDs.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨First they came for steam, then they came for itch.io .⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Hopefully you’re referring to Visa/Paypal, not Itch.

  One place that comes to mind is Verotel. I barely know them, but supposedly one of their star attributes is their use for adult businesses. Likely someone else knows them better.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Stop Killing Games is facing a complaint in the EU that uses nonsense logic to accuse the movement's founder of failing to disclose financial contributions he never made: 'It's not paranoia if they re⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  There’s even an argument that SKG is a good financial motive for studios. Consumer electronics/entertainment spending is down, and it’s not hard to connect the idea that people are less enthused about video games when they aren’t sure they get to keep them. Which are you more likely to buy: Snake oil from a merchant on a turbo-driven truck ready to leave town? Or multiple panel-certified medicine from an extremely tightly-regulated industry.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Itch.io is delisting NSFW games due to pressure from payment processors⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  A) Honest mistake. I appreciated people pointing out the country of origin.
  B) While the specifics of my comment were off the mark, even with this group being Australian, this group affects world commerce, and American politics has strong influence on that world in turn. Just like how president of the USA would have a big effect on the levels of violence and cruelty in Gaza. Visa is an American corporation, and they’re clearly quite on board with this censorship influence.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Itch.io is delisting NSFW games due to pressure from payment processors⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Okay, Jack Thompson

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Itch.io is delisting NSFW games due to pressure from payment processors⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  If GTA V is allowed, I’m pretty certain most of what we’ve seen from NSFW games is as well. Regardless, a payment company should not be acting as judge for such things, just as media companies should not act as judge on copyright infringement on YouTube.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨I'm doing my part⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Sadly, sarcasm doesn’t translate well in text - and Trump voters have been guilty of saying the most unhinged shit out loud.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨PS5 update introduces Power Saver option with a trade-off | Polygon⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  That seems like a great idea. Now that so many games are much less demanding on your gaming machine than others (playing a Phoenix Wright game, or Stardew Valley, or Minecraft), holding back a bit of power makes a lot of sense. If implemented right, I imagine you wouldn’t see any effect from this on most games.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Microsoft concedes that 'The Outer Worlds 2' retail price was too high — Xbox says it "will keep our full priced holiday releases at $69.99," with refunds incoming⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  I don’t doubt that game studio business models have gotten scummier, but I never liked the phrase “The full experience”.

  There’s a few Bioware games I can cite where it was a terrible setup that added story-critical quests through DLC, but most often, a “special edition” or even the season passes tend to add very optional, often-ugly, costumes to games that already offer a number of costumes with the base game.

  Saying it often makes people picture that they don’t get an ending to their story, or are locked out of abilities. There are live service games with that issue - the “hero model” being a frequent offender, but in the best of those games, the game’s base price is low and even the guide authors will acknowledge few people should feel the need to buy every character.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Nintendo touts high employee retention rate after loss of Microsoft jobs rocks Xbox Game Studios⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Their other good thing in my eyes is not overextending.

  They have been profitable for a long time, and built up a reserve. Shitty CEOs would demand they use those reserves to branch out into a VR division. Make a room-sized toy, a massively online Second Life space, a chain of theme parks. Anything to show they’re hiring, growing, and that the ROI will triple every few years.

  Obviously, had they done any of that, they’d be doing a lot more firing now because they’d have no reserves once all those plans go belly up.

  So, it’s likely helpful their culture is quartered in Japan where the long term health of the company is treasured and short term gains are not worshipped so much.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨The Star Wars Outlaws flop - Guillemot blames waning interest in the franchise⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  The worst bit is reflecting on how the first movie portrayed it all.

  A horrific empire, but a secret mysterious force, not believed in by many, that can help you fight it. Classic warriors using heavy swords in an age of laser rifles.

  I don’t even really know what the message around the force was in The Last Jedi. I didn’t even bother watching Force Awakens.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨I'm doing my part!⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  I remember my home district had one spot that handled both trash and recycling, so maybe there’s a chance of it still getting somewhere useful.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨I really want to like the new ff7....but it's just so buggy.⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I remember playing the demo for Remake. The guard scorpion took an age and multiple cycles to beat; apparently it’s not meant to, but something about its damage mechanics was just incredibly unclear to me. I was using magic and abilities how it said it wanted me to, but in an action game, those mechanics get much harder to parse. Would’ve preferred turn-taking.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨7,818 titles on Steam disclose generative AI usage, or 7% of Steam's total library of 114,126 games, up from ~1,000 titles in April 2024⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I thought about doing this, but my plan would be to attach a thumbnail on every piece of AI art declaring “Placeholder AI work”. Then release the game for free that way to gauge interest.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨European Commission preparing token gesture for angry gamers and game developers⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Even if it’s literally just “money at stake” some countries would have reason to be concerned - because so many zero-IQ MBAs are pushing industries into a hot crash for short term gains that bankrupt any long term growth.

  Gamers having no faith that the games they buy remain theirs is one of many things that can drive down spending; though it will never happen on such a granular scale publishers would take action on it.