lolcatnip

@lolcatnip@reddthat.com

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Ubisoft says you "cannot complain" it shut down The Crew because you never actually owned it, and you weren't "deceived" by the lack of an offline version⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago⁩:

  My point is they never have and never will.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Ubisoft says you "cannot complain" it shut down The Crew because you never actually owned it, and you weren't "deceived" by the lack of an offline version⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  I think Ubisoft is clearly in the wrong, but you’re not making a good case. You’re conflating very different meanings of the word “own”.

  In terms of legal ownership, only the copyright holder owns the intellectual property, including the right to distribute and license it. When a consumer “buys” a piece of media, they’re really just buying a perpetual license for their personal use of it. With physical media, the license is typically tied to whatever physical object (disc, book, ROM, etc.) is used to deliver the content, and you can transfer your license by transferring the physical media, but the license is still the important part that separates legal use from piracy.

  When you pirate something, you own the means to access it without the legal right to do so. So, in the case at hand, players still “own” the game in the same sense they would if they had pirated it. Ubisoft hasn’t revoked anyone’s physical access to the bits that comprise the game; what they’ve done is made that kind of access useless because the game relies on a service that Ubisoft used to operate.

  The real issue here is that Ubisoft didn’t make it clear what they were selling, and they may even have deliberately misrepresented it. Consumers were either not aware that playing the game required Ubisoft to operate servers for it, or they were misled regarding how long Ubisoft would operate the servers.

  Ultimately I think what consumers are looking for is less like ownership and more like a warranty, i.e. a promise that what they buy will continue to work for some period of time after they’ve bought it, and an obligation from the manufacturer to provide whatever services are necessary to keep that promise. Game publishers generally don’t offer any kind of warranty, and consumers don’t demand warranties, but consumers also tend to expect punishers to act as if their products come with a warranty. Publishers, of course, don’t want to draw attention to their lack of warranty, and will sometimes actively exploit that false perception that their products come with a perpetual warranty.

  I think what’s really needed is a very clear indication, at the point of purchase, of whether a game requires ongoing support from the publisher to be playable, along with a legally binding statement of how long they’ll provide support. And there should be a default warranty if none is clearly specified, like say 10 years from the point of purchase.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Ubisoft says you "cannot complain" it shut down The Crew because you never actually owned it, and you weren't "deceived" by the lack of an offline version⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Or, ownership itself is a service. Rights mean nothing if nobody enforces them, and that includes property rights.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What are your favorite games for killing nazis?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s a nice bonus but too short the be a full game.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Help me out: which looks better for the Duck - the neck tie or the bow tie?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Bowties have been out of fashion for so long they just look silly most of the time. That seems like exactly what you’d want for a character who’s supposed to be whimsical.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Is Half-Life Opposing Force still known to current gamers, or is this a side game that's fallen through the cracks.⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  So a From Software DLC, basically?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Is Half-Life Opposing Force still known to current gamers, or is this a side game that's fallen through the cracks.⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Also not a squash.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨BACK IT UP⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  As much as I want psychedelics to be legal, I think putting RFK in charge of anything is far to high of a price to pay.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Day 106 of posting a Daily Screenshot from the games I’ve been playing until I forget to post Screenshots⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  The real nightmare is the kerning.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Just Terrible⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Almost every programming language uses 0.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Just Terrible⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Hate to break it to you, but almost every language uses 0-based indexing.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Just Terrible⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Mathematicians and computer scientists are natural enemies.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Badgers⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Badgers? We don’t need no stinking badgers!

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨my boss: "no you are in stem now"⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  They’re usually end notes.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨sassyfrazz⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Me personally? Probably not. But I’ve read that safrole is a good starting point, and it comes from sassafras.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨sassyfrazz⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Is someone trying to make root beer? Or molly?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Mobin' Time⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Cool professors just give you a formula sheet.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Artifical Intelligence⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  This is the sort of arrant pedantry up with which I will not put.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Artifical Intelligence⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  A more timely example is the people who think they can always tell when someone is trans.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Can relate.⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Not literally the Holocaust again yet.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨THE DEMONS⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Or the Laundry series by Charles Stross.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What else is there⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Probably because it’s what they’re called in C++.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Eureka⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  But did they do that in Newton’s time?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨i need it, soz⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  There’s also a mountain range separating Chile from its neighbors.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Move over Harambe⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  This is the ideal male body. You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Shadow of the Colossus - The Danish National Symphony Orchestra⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Such a great game. And The Last Guardian is criminally underrated.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Zelda-Inspired Plucky Squire Shows What Happens When A Game Doesn't Trust Its Players⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Then you have to make sure it’s reasonably straightforward to figure everything out without the tutorial, so then why bother with the tutorial at all?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Gacha games are out of control. Gambling shouldn't be so widespread⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Compared to the US, the EU is lightning fast. California probably beats them sometimes, though.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Audubon⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  You’re asking a stranger in the internet to do a whole lot of work for you.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What a FREAK⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Clearly they’ve never seen a hagfish.