Hey, guys? A lot of 90s games still work, to-day. Long after their developers and publishers went under, and so did whichever conglomerates bought them out.

It’s an RTS. It’s not an MMO. You can figure out how to let players make it work.

Take a slide rule to ancient Babylon because on some level I’m morally offended we didn’t figure that one out until the 17th century. Ideally this also snipes a variety of terrible numeral systems.

(Centurii-chan)

“I just wanna talk to him.”

If a fan released this as a shader injector, I think it would be celebrated.

Nvidia pushing it under their brand for upscaling is fuck-right-off territory.

If they’d talked to… anyone, beforehand, they’d know RE9’s graphics don’t need help. Show us how this affects unmodded Skyrim. Show us LA Noire actually looking like all the actors it stars. Real-time style transfer surely works the other way too; show us Doom Eternal as a cartoon. Make it a silly thing users can do, rather than yet another bullshit feature to bribe into new games and lord over AMD. Were the anti-competitive margins from CUDA not comfortable enough?

which is how they killed Ryujinx.

Plus sending goons to his house.

Allegedly.

Yes, that’s what tariffs are.

Read: Discord is de-anonymizing all users.

Leeeave.

Frankly it should be illegal.

Not just “never required.” Explicitly disallowed.

Having erased the game everybody loved for a janked-up and shamelessly greedy do-over, they’re now trying to erase even its memory.

Like how specifying “Halo CE” requires further disambiguation.

If - if - they release another Xbox, they’re gonna name the fucker “The Original Xbox.”

Troll.

If I have demonstrated anything in all my years online, it is that I am ready and willing to argue. But it’s not an argument if the other side is just saying words recreationally. That seems to be the case here, when no amount of pleading for specifics or alternatives results in anything besides ‘shut up.’

Meanwhile:

The actual topic remains that Valve is a monopoly. In what universe is that not relevant to this article about their largest competitor being so unimportant they can’t give things away? If everyone here takes that for granted, great… so why am I getting the same response as the many times people deny it? Even the meta discussion about phrasing is fraught and confrontational, regardless of what I’ve actually said. Have I offended you in some way?

Further abuse.

People fall over themselves to demonstrate what I’m saying.

I mention that it’s a monopoly - ‘shut up, no it isn’t.’ I mention the people who say it isn’t - ‘shut up, of course it is.’ I start from scratch - ‘shut up, what are you talking about.’ I provide two years of context - ‘shut up, that’s not in this thread.’

What sequence of words would avoid this abuse? What possible sentence would address the actual issue, without people acting like I’ve insulted their mother’s cooking?

And which angle would not receive the same “information?”

So Minnesota is free to.

I refuse to be shamed on tone when every approach sees the same response.

A coy eye-roll which you cannot imagine anyone disagrees with gets brusquely scoffed at. Pointing out that people absolutely disagree with it gets treated like heavy messing.

Dry statements get downvoted.

Direct responses get downvoted.

Detailed overviews get downvoted.

Oblique implications get downvoted.

Direct application with context gets downvoted.

If I can’t win I don’t play. Steam is a monopoly and people are fucking weird about it. You supposedly agree with me and you’re still treating me the same way these “dumbasses” do. If I pretend they don’t exist I get more predictable bullshit. If I acknowledge they exist it’s my fault somehow. How about no?

I’ve had dozens of people pile on to insist Steam is not a monopoly. They’re the ones I’m quoting about it being the only store they use. They’re the ones downvoting me, and only me, for pointing out it is a monopoly, while they upvote you for also saying it’s a monopoly, but in a yeah-but phrasing.

But Steam’s totally not a monopoly, you guys.

No, the word does not mean competitors don’t exist. It means they don’t matter.

No, the label does not mean we have to shatter Valve. Having market dominance and abusing it are different things, but we still need to recognize when a company fffuuucking obviously has it.

If Gaben suddenly announces he’s sold it all to Larry Ellison, that has ruinous implications for the entire PC gaming market, despite the fact Valve does not strictly own PC gaming. They don’t have to, to be an outsized influence, to the point most people will readily admit they only buy from one store. We have a word for that.

Initial thought is reducing incentives to invade Taiwan - but that’s 4D chess horseshit on my part. That’s yet another sensible person asking ‘but what is he really thinking?’ and coming up with sensible answers, when The Idiot’s thoughts are more like six fireflies blinking in a jar.