halcyoncmdr
@halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
- Comment on Epic reduce their cut to 0% for the first $1 million in revenue for devs on the Epic Games Store 6 days ago:
A physical storefront has to deal with asset depreciation however. A product can sit on the shelf and reduce in value as it ages, there is no such thing with digital distribution.
Based on estimates, and various reports, leaks etc. since they aren’t a public company… Steam makde an estimated $10.8 Billion in 2024. They made $780,000 per employee as of 2018 based on an internal report, more than nearly every other company on the planet. They’re not spending anywhere near that on operations.
- Comment on Epic reduce their cut to 0% for the first $1 million in revenue for devs on the Epic Games Store 6 days ago:
Eh, I would argue that the expansion of broadband internet and the increased expectation of instant gratification by consumers made it a perfect time for Steam’s expansion. The death of physical media is a side effect of the ability to near instantly download anything you want.
- Comment on Epic reduce their cut to 0% for the first $1 million in revenue for devs on the Epic Games Store 6 days ago:
Didn’t Steam essentially create the “standard” for 30% price point for digital distribution in the first place? While a 30% margin makes sense for physical retail, it’s never made sense for digital distribution.
- Comment on What are some of the impacts of a power outage that isn't that obvious / isn't talked about a lot? And What happens to restaurant bills? Do Buses still work? (since card payments wouldn't work) 1 week ago:
FYI, this is one of the major reasons to use digital wallets. Like Apple Pay and Google Wallet. They don’t use your actual card info when paying, but a generated virtual card instead.
Likewise one of my accounts provides both a physical card and a separate virtual card, so that’s what I enter whenever making online purchases. Easier to cancel and reissue a virtual card if there is fraud.
- Comment on Oblivion remake is... really making it apparent how outdated Bethesda is in its approach to making games 1 week ago:
If you’re fine paying $50-60 for what amounts to a community graphical overhaul mod that’s fine. I expect more from an actual developer with access to the source code.
A remaster should be releasing Oblivion with an updated engine and graphics, and bringing in some gameplay enhancements from newer games. Technically this meets those requirements, but only by the bare minimum and all of those can be achieved with community mods for free.
A remake would be completely abandoning the decrepit Gamebryo/Creation Engine that’s clearly dragging all of their games down now, and has been for over a decade, and actually giving us something that doesn’t feel like it came out 20+ years ago.
I love the Elder Scrolls, Oblivion is one of my favorite games of all time, and the only one I ever bothered to get every achievement for back on the 360. But I won’t accept a half assed remaster for nearly full price just because it’s what Bethesda wants to distract everyone from the fact that Elder Scrolls 6 isn’t coming out anytime soon and they couldn’t just release Skyrim for the 12th time.
- Comment on Oblivion remake is... really making it apparent how outdated Bethesda is in its approach to making games 1 week ago:
More than a coat of paint. The modding community could have done this year ago if that’s all they wanted to do. Skyblivion is more of a remaster than this official one.
- Comment on Oblivion remake is... really making it apparent how outdated Bethesda is in its approach to making games 1 week ago:
It’s not even much of a remaster. They just slapped a coat of paint on it.
The Gamebryo/Creation Engine is still there running the game, it just uses Unreal 5 for the graphical elements. And they updated some of the levelling to work more like Skyrim, because the Oblivion system sucked in comparison.
It’s still the same 20 year old Oblivion under the hood.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but calling it a remaster is a bit disingenuous.
- Comment on What's an example of a TV show that came out at before its time, or just at a bad time? 1 week ago:
That first season really was amazing.
- Comment on Nintendo apologizes as Switch 2 demand overwhelms supply in Japan 2 weeks ago:
Nintendo, like many Japanese companies, only produces what they know with 100% certainty they can sell. They purposely underproduced the Wii so it constantly sold through retail and absolutely no stock stuck on shelves for long. They don’t actually care about complaints of supply issues, that is intentional.
As a side effect they also get to constantly stay in the headlines as their constant lack of supply keeps being reported. So they get free marketing as well, just by operating as they always have. And with current global supply chain conversations, they get a free smokescreen with the general populace going out of their way to blame someone else.
- Comment on are my friends looking out for me or just ableist? 2 weeks ago:
These are classic signs of abusive relationships, regardless of autism.
Trying to control and limit your interactions with others. Convincing you to abandon other friendships because those relationships pose a threat to their control over you. Preying on your own insecurities to further increase their power.
- Comment on 4chan Is Dead. Its Toxic Legacy Is Everywhere 2 weeks ago:
It’s entirely likely. That site hasn’t changed a bit in over 2 decades. .
While publicly known external security vulnerabilities may have been found and patched over the years, having the source leaked means a look behind the hood at new weaknesses and a field day with exploiting them.
If 4Chan does come back, I think it will look significantly different.
- Comment on Hottest Star Trek character? 2 weeks ago:
The answer is of course Neelix. That’s just objectively obvious.
- Comment on Maryland Senator Meets With Wrongly Deported Man in El Salvador 2 weeks ago:
Same. The random comment from the administration that he was alive brought that general assumption, and combined with not allowing anyone to see him, it really started to look like he died in custody and they were trying to hide it as long as possible or cover it up.
- Comment on WTF is the teacher doing 4 weeks ago:
“You can’t put your hands on the students”
“Okay”
- Comment on What do you think are some strategies trumps Russian handlers use to get that bafoon to do what they want? 4 weeks ago:
They just tell him what Putin would like to happen. No leverage necessary. Trump admires dictators, it’s clear he wants their approval.
- Comment on James Cameron Says Blockbuster Movies Can Only Survive If We ‘Cut the Cost in Half’; He’s Exploring How AI Can Help Without ‘Laying Off the Staff’ 4 weeks ago:
That’s exactly most likely an example of my last point. CG can look perfectly real. If you have the tools and references needed, or the time to do everything manually frame by frame, which adds up extremely fast.
Based on the result in The Thing, CGI team almost certainly had no references from actual shooting apart from the bare footage, and even composited shots were inconsistent from each other.
- Comment on James Cameron Says Blockbuster Movies Can Only Survive If We ‘Cut the Cost in Half’; He’s Exploring How AI Can Help Without ‘Laying Off the Staff’ 4 weeks ago:
This 100%. CGI should be used to enhance traditional special effects, not replace them entirely.
Also, planning properly for CGI can dramatically reduce both the cost and quality of CG. For instance, recording reference lighting to provide the CG team so they can more accurately make any fully-rendered elements. Don’t just say “they’ll fix it in post”. That’s where CG cost skyrockets.
- Comment on Wall Street Bursts With Anger as Trump Tariffs Cause Wild Stock Market Swings 4 weeks ago:
But, I thought they were so happy with their businessman Messiah. It was gonna be the greatest economic boon.
- Comment on Chipotle offering a discount, while warning they may also inflate prices and delivery fees simultaneously 5 weeks ago:
I don’t understand how it’s so popular in border specifically. Like Taco Bell I understand, that’s not Mexican food, they don’t claim to be Mexican food, it’s gringo food, half the people I see at Taco Bell are Hispanic because that’s a specific type of food different from everything else… But there’s a Mexican place of some kind on nearly every corner in AZ. There’s no reason to ever even consider Chipotle.
- Comment on Chipotle offering a discount, while warning they may also inflate prices and delivery fees simultaneously 5 weeks ago:
I don’t understand how it’s so popular in border specifically. Like Taco Bell I understand, that’s not Mexican food, they don’t claim to be Mexican food, it’s gringo food, half the people I see at Taco Bell are Hispanic because that’s a specific type of food different from everything else… But there’s a Mexican place of some kind on nearly every corner in AZ. There’s no reason to ever even consider Chipotle.
- Comment on Stardew Valley Baldur's Gate 3 mod back online after D&D owners "mistakenly" send a copyright strike 5 weeks ago:
This is the type of thing that law firms will send without consulting their client first as soon as they were made aware as a default response, without considering any context to verify proper action. Which in most cases would be fine, but in this particular genre, because of shitty companies like Nintendo, can cause direct reputational harm.
It is Wizards of the Coast though, historically they’re not much better, so this would be 100% believable coming from them on purpose.
- Comment on GeoGuessr is making its way to Steam next month after almost 12 years of sticking it out as a browser game 1 month ago:
They already added a subscription.
Up front cost cannot cover the ongoing API costs they must be paying for Google Maps. So either this has to be free and just a front end for the same shit, or they’ll still end up net negative.
- Comment on GeoGuessr is making its way to Steam next month after almost 12 years of sticking it out as a browser game 1 month ago:
Why?
- Comment on Fable delayed to 2026 1 month ago:
Mumblings originally in 2017, job openings at the studio in 2018, officially announced in 2020. October 2022 Andrew Walsh, a senior writer from the Horizon Forbidden West team joined the Fable team. June of 2023 had an in-game trailer.
To be honest, that seems to be a reasonable timeframe, especially given the pandemic in the middle, if you aren’t following the “rush it out the door ASAP, fix it after release, if you ever do” approach.
- Comment on Harbor Freight 1 month ago:
Harbor Freight is awesome, but as with everything else, you should know what you’re buying, and know what you actually need.
Most people don’t need to pay a premium for something they’ll use just once, or maybe a handful of times, and never touch again.
For most people, they don’t really know what they need, so buy Harbor Freight the first time, if you use so much it breaks, then buy a quality replacement, because you proved you actually need it.
- Comment on 'Mickey 17' Sinks at Box Office to $18.5 Million Opening Weekend 1 month ago:
Getting really of these shit titles and takes.
Of course a new IP like Mickey 17 isn’t going to bring in the numbers of an existing well known franchise with an established fanbase AND a previous installment with a cliffhanger ending like fucking Dune.
- Comment on How do you think smartphone manufacturers will comply with EU's replaceable battery regulation? 1 month ago:
Having worked in retail phone repair for 15 years, both for a major US carrier and privately… A lot.
I saw water damaged phones every single day, and I’m hundreds of miles from an ocean, sea, lake, or any major body of water. That’s just from mistakes near things like backyard pools.
- Comment on Whose bright idea was it to give the morning people enough power to set the "business hours" anyways‽ 1 month ago:
Rise! We protected the group from wild animals for centuries as they slept! We allowed them to sleep peacefully, without fear.
- Comment on How do you think smartphone manufacturers will comply with EU's replaceable battery regulation? 1 month ago:
I never said it was impossible. I said it was harder to both make them replaceable and water resistant. And they won’t bother to do both for 99% of models, they’ll just drop the water resistance to comply with replaceable battery requirements. There might be a few that they bother and then sell at inflated prices.
- Comment on How do you think smartphone manufacturers will comply with EU's replaceable battery regulation? 1 month ago:
They’ll make them replaceable and ignore waterproofing them for 99% of models citing the added difficulty in making a good seal without being able to glue it shut. Which is arguably true. It’s possible, but more difficult to design and much more likely to fail.