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[itisnotlogical]

Finally have some damn room to breathe after two weeks of back-to-back bullshit assignments, and what happens? I come down with a cold the day before, and now I'm supposed to spend a school night around my screaming niece and nephew. And after spending almost 9 hours a day around underclassmen who are just a hair above shaved chimpanzees in their behavior, my family still thinks I'm being pissy and moody for no reason when I come home and don't feel like dealing with anybody.

[kaian-a-coel]

Kaian, what clan, and please, please follow up with the rest of the story once it goes through. This is some popcorn-worthy drama.

snip

Eh, if he kicks everyone out, then it'd be almost identical to HIM being the one kicked out.

Nah, because he gets to keep the dojo and the research we all paid for, while we have to build everything again.

[Graknorke]

Kaian, what clan, and please, please follow up with the rest of the story once it goes through. This is some popcorn-worthy drama.

snip

Eh, if he kicks everyone out, then it'd be almost identical to HIM being the one kicked out.

Nah, because he gets to keep the dojo and the research we all paid for, while we have to build everything again.

But he'll have to play the arena-shooter-MMO () on his own.

[kaian-a-coel]

Kaian, what clan, and please, please follow up with the rest of the story once it goes through. This is some popcorn-worthy drama.

snip

Eh, if he kicks everyone out, then it'd be almost identical to HIM being the one kicked out.

Nah, because he gets to keep the dojo and the research we all paid for, while we have to build everything again.

But he'll have to play the arena-shooter-MMO () on his own.

I don't think he minds at this point.
We're out of options :/

[Graknorke]

Kaian, what clan, and please, please follow up with the rest of the story once it goes through. This is some popcorn-worthy drama.

snip

Eh, if he kicks everyone out, then it'd be almost identical to HIM being the one kicked out.

Nah, because he gets to keep the dojo and the research we all paid for, while we have to build everything again.

But he'll have to play the arena-shooter-MMO () on his own.

I don't think he minds at this point.
We're out of options :/

Oh, okay.
Then yeah, do the overthrowy thing.

[kaian-a-coel]

Then yeah, do the overthrowy thing.

Problem is, the game does not allow it. The warlord cannot be toppled without his consent.
We have four possibilities, nothing else:

1) convince him to willingly relinquish his position (even "temporarily")
2) convince him to put me back at my old Architect position, let us write funny messages over the dojo WE built, and shut up
3) do nothing and accept his paranoid dictatorship
4) leave.

First one is about as likely as EA voluntarily making all of their games DRM-free. Second might be doable. Third is inacceptable. Fourth is envisageable if second fail.

[Owlbread]

It's interesting that we focus on EA's DRM so much and wish their games were DRM free again, yet we don't seem to say the same thing for all the games that are now switching to Steam's DRM. I know Valve seem trustworthy right now (mostly because of Gaben love) but that company is going to rule us one day.

[LordSlowpoke]

instances of steam drm wrecking your pc are very rare if nonexistent to date, and the chance that it will start to wreck your pc in the name of glorious profits seems very slim therefore ALL GLORY TO THE CORPORATE OVERLORDS

[Owlbread]

instances of steam drm wrecking your pc are very rare if nonexistent to date, and the chance that it will start to wreck your pc in the name of glorious profits seems very slim therefore ALL GLORY TO THE CORPORATE OVERLORDS

As I said right now steam DRM isn't really messing things up, it's quite convenient at the moment. The problem is that we're becoming over-reliant on Valve and if they become evil, greedy and controlling (as Google, Microsoft, EA, Activision, Blizzard, practically any successful game/software company has) then we're completely screwed.

[Graknorke]

instances of steam drm wrecking your pc are very rare if nonexistent to date, and the chance that it will start to wreck your pc in the name of glorious profits seems very slim therefore ALL GLORY TO THE CORPORATE OVERLORDS

As I said right now steam DRM isn't really messing things up, it's quite convenient at the moment. The problem is that we're becoming over-reliant on Valve and if they become evil, greedy and controlling (as Google, Microsoft, EA, Activision, Blizzard, practically any successful game/software company has) then we're completely screwed.

But Valve already are the leading provider of DRM, and they still value customer service being a thing that's important. DotA 2 taking up 2% of all internet traffic with the last update and all. If they were going to go mad with power they'd have done it already.
Anyway, the specifying EA makes sense. EA would never loosen the DRM shackles, because they approach all problems with the singular mindset that the consumer is in some way an obstacle to be overcome. When people got upset over always-online DRM, EA didn't go, "Maybe we shouldn't have done that." They went, "The people don't want to take the thing." Most businesses the first would lead to the latter, but not at EA. They just shoved it in everyone's collective face harder.

[Owlbread]

Valve are going to get bigger though, much bigger. Google big, I think. Google was the dominant search engine for years and years and they only became very evil indeed in the last few after they expanded, Steam will probably expand quite dramatically in the future. It will begin with SteamOS and the Steambox, I think, if it is a success.

[miauw62]

Grak: EA sees the customers as a way to earn more money and little more.
They're basically trying to squeeze as much money out of everything as they can. Valve gives up on a bit of that in favor of good PR and making good games (something EA is consistently failing to do)

[Owlbread]

But the quality of their games has declined rapidly in the last few years since L4D1 came out. They haven't released anything recently that I would consider to be of the same quality that they produced in 2004/2005. Their handling of the L4D series in general smells like EA-ification to me, particularly when they churned out that sequel to everyone's surprise so soon after the first game came out.

They'll keep up their good PR, just as Google tried to do, but they'll start shafting you before you know it.

[miauw62]

Portal 2?

Various TF2 updates? (Honestly even if you don't like TF2 they DO put a lot of work into these updates, even if it's just all the fluff about them and not the actual content itself)

[Owlbread]

Portal 2?

Various TF2 updates? (Honestly even if you don't like TF2 they DO put a lot of work into these updates, even if it's just all the fluff about them and not the actual content itself)

They've put a lot of work into the updates but I would just expect that standard from Valve, it's nothing special from them. It would be special in comparison with another company, but not Valve. Portal 2 was good I will give you that, but maybe I'm still waiting for the big shakeup rather than more Source products.