Your opinions on the current state of gaming.
Countless questions I possess; but few places outside of the SCP Foundation to ask them.
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Your opinions on the current state of gaming.
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» Your opinions on the current state of gaming.
Summary:
This is one for the gamers and media gurus.
As others have noted, the divide between Indie and AAA is sharp. Indie games are chronically superior, yada yada yada, you've heard it all before and it's all true. Play more indie games.
Someone in this thread said that the biggest shift in AAA gaming has been towards shareholders that only care about profit. I see this as a misrepresentation of a much more nuanced problem. Since the early days of their inception, most games have always been produced by large companies. At first, these were software giants, now they are specialized media conglomerates, but the general effect is the same. Games have always been about money. All media is. In fact, the indie studio as we know it today is relatively modern— while small creative teams have existed since the days of the Commodore 64, the widespread mainstream success of small teams not backed entirely by a publisher or larger studio was basically enabled entirely by the advent of Steam— any previous indie hits were kind of outliers.
The biggest cause of the widespread downturn in AAA quality as I see it is the constriction of the industry. This has three main causes.
- The market has expanded rapidly, mostly on the younger end of consumers. This has sent demand through the roof.
- The price point of AAA remains locked at 60$, despite the fact that every year that's less and less money. This doesn't show signs of changing anytime soon. If you want to know why, ask an economist. It doesn't make much sense to me.
- The kind of game a AAA audience demands (or, what they supposedly demand) has gotten exponentially more expensive to produce. A-lister voice actors, filmic visuals, the works.
This, in turn, has two main effects:
- AAA studios have to utilize any means at their disposal to extract value from their massive playerbases. This is the root cause behind microtransactions— they have to charge much less for the game than its actually worth (production cost-wise), so the deficit has to be made up somewhere. And micros have been shown to be brutally effective.
- Industry standards for workers have gone down the tubes. Games are produced at breakneck speeds, for unbelievably low pay. If you don't believe me, look up "game dev crunch time horror stories." It's a nightmare with very little creative energy behind it. When you're sleeping under your desk for months at a time and your paycheck gets docked if the game doesn't make a certain IGN score, who cares about your hopes and dreams for a masterpiece?
In short, games will continue to suck (and indeed, will probably get worse) until consumers demand uglier, shorter games for more money up-front. That, or a full-blown communist revolution. Until then, indies are the last great frontier.
Steam is the haven for all games, isn't it.
Interesting thoughts. As mentioned in a recent post I made here though; I've kind of stopped caring. I've realized that now. Believe what you (the reader) like here; we probably won't be getting any answers. People will keep buying into the AAA industry, and the studios will grow wealthier off of it. There has been much irreversible damage caused there, and it will only get worse.
All I can say is that the indie studios should be where they are right now; more low key. I remember the fiasco that Bluehole did with PUBG back in 2018. PUBG [started out] as an indie game, but once it became big in 2017, it realized the profitability of it. Before you knew it, Bluehole went from a indie company to a money hungry one.
But, if your someone who just plays games casually, then yes, independent games/Steam is the path for you. As much as we want it to, the AAA industry is not changing.
Wikidot work with me! Stop lagging!
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This is a touchy subject, won't lie.
I am a Gen-Z myself; I spent far too much time playing Minecraft in my teens and into my adult years; spent a lot of time with Sonic and Mario as a kid, never really got into the firsr-person shooters… I am a timid guy, so a lot of games never appealed to me. I also have a visual issue so games that are heavily sight dependent went unplayed; that's not to say I didn't have my share of fun though. I spent a lot of time playing Geometry Dash (beat the whole base game, I'm proud), did a lot of AFK style games, too much time in Summoners War… I kinda checked out every platform I could, and I did notice the evolution of games.
I don't know why, but it seems graphics are the new staple in games now, it's like the game has to look amazing and play terribly. Don't believe me? Pokemon generation 1-4 were by no means great looking, but they were fun. Minecraft, looks ok and is fun to play. I can enjoy some old-school games now, the pixelated looks, the slow gameplay, simple colors, they were fun. Look at the newer games now; the GTA series, CoD, Halo, their graphics are kinda over the top and they're boring… all the CoD games are almost the same, GTA is nearly the same, they don't add really anything new but they up the graphics quality with every game.
I think we need to stop prioritizing the look of a game, and instead focus on the enjoyment of it- again Minecraft got so much success because it was playable for hours on end with always something to do- whereas GTA is playable for a few hours then it gets boring, having to follow the set plot that focuses on "hey look at that" instead of "hey go explore over there and see what you can find."
ΛZЦЯΛƬZЦ
[shrugs] Mostly I play Super Nintendo games, Donkey Kong Country and such. I never really enjoyed complicated stuff like RPGs and online games. Pretty hyped for Metroid: Dread, though.
Basically what I’m saying is, who needs multiplayer anyway? There’s no Donkey Kong Country meta.
There is the Nintendo side of gaming, which is certainly whose ambiguity is far less prominent than say all these MMOs. That being said though, they are the classics (which I completely forgot about).
Pretty hyped for Metroid: Dread, though.
Glad to hear not everyone feels the same as many others! :)
Basically what I’m saying is, who needs multiplayer anyway?
Countless people, to say the least. That being said though, the ways of demand toxic af, so to speak.
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Glad to hear not everyone feels the same as many others!
Are there people unhappy about Dread?
No, it was about the point I made in my opinion
This has also led to the inability to muster the excitement for new game releases, or updates to live-service games.
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Update: Dread is my favorite video game ever. Also the hardest darn video game I ever played in my life, but still friggin' awesome.
In other news, I have given up on Smash Bros. I started playing online this year, and I quickly discovered that it is the least enjoyable way to play Smash. Getting my buttocks brutally severed by some stupid anime swordfighter and served to me on a plate 9 times is not worth winning by sheer luck the 10th time.1 It also seems like the DLC characters are just objectively better than the base roster, which would be a deal-breaker if true, though that might just because the people who buy DLC characters are also people with a lot more practice than me.
Footnotes
1. Which may sound strange after I just said I like Dread, but the difference is that Raven Beak doesn't do "victory crouches" after he kills you, even if he does kill you A LOT.
I reply to as many people as I can you know.
Update: Dread is my favorite video game ever. Also the hardest darn video game I ever played in my life, but still friggin' awesome.
Glad to see your hype and expectations were met.
In other news, I have given up on Smash Bros. I started playing online this year, and I quickly discovered that it is the least enjoyable way to play Smash. Getting my buttocks brutally severed by some stupid anime swordfighter and served to me on a plate 9 times is not worth winning by sheer luck the 10th time.
That is not fun. Not everyone is a competitive player. I know plenty of people who fell into the same situation as you with Smash; said effectively the same thing so your not alone.
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I think the issue with Smash is that - and this probably sounds ridiculous - people are playing it "wrong". I mean, this is a game where an anthropomorphic dog secretary hits a cyborg zombie mutant alien space pirate dragon in the face with a comically oversized hammer while flying down a racetrack on a spaceship. I don't think a game as complicated, chaotic, silly, and just blain big as Smash is meant to be taken so seriously. I see a 1v1 tourney on an Omega-form stage with items off, and I don't understand the point. You are using maybe 10% of the game's content when you play like that, and it makes me wonder why you're playing Smash at all instead of a more traditional fighting game like Street Fighter or something. When I make the mistake of joining that 1v1 tourney and somebody who spent money on downloading Mythra/Pyra effortlessly KOs me and squats repeatedly while I hurtle helplessly into the background, I'm not having fun, and the person who just trounced me is deriving all of their fun from the fact that I'm losing. I feel like Smash is only really at its best when being played by a group of friends just goofing off with a friendly competition, not a thousand strangers who make tier lists and know the difference between a hitbox and a hurtbox.
Then again, maybe I just need to git gud. But I don't have the patience to put up with all of that until I do.
it makes me wonder why you're playing Smash at all instead of a more traditional fighting game like Street Fighter or something.
I think people who play more competitive are also at first drawn in by being able to play with your favourite video game characters (or a Mii costume of said character) and then stay because they want to get better at the game. It also has a very unique fighting system compared to your typical HP bar game. That said, Smash was definitely designed as a party game first and a competitive game second and I totally get where you're coming from.
Then again, maybe I just need to git gud. But I don't have the patience to put up with all of that until I do.
I feel as if there's been a massive decrease in tolerance for good/competitive players in the past few years. I don't know why that is, but I think separating casual from competitive gaming has become harder to do, so in several game a casual gets put in lobbies full of sweaty players, and it become hard to play casually. So I understand where you're coming from.
Something I learned from Fortnite however, a game that can be played extremely competitively, is that there is usually is not a viable solution to this problem that does not get people vocalizing bad things, so to speak. The skill gap cannot be reset, as that removes years of progress that competitive players have achieved. People get good at games, irreversibly.
Update for me: To throw more sh*t at the AAA industry like we've done in this thread, Battlefield 2042 (while I've not played it), seems…questionable. The rest I'll attribute to Google.
I've started enjoying Fortnite again actually, as I think their launch of Chapter 3 was good. I'm excited to see how this stacks up against everything that Fn has done in the past three-four years (which has been all over the place to me).
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I've been too busy to play games too often, but last quarter I played Resident Evil: Village. I really enjoyed the Tall Lady and the Doll sections, but my enjoyment wobbled a little after that. I was really enjoying the 'stalking monster' angle they had earlier on.
Anyway, I'm not a fan of the growing multiplayer-only games, as those aren't my kind of games. I think many indie companies are going strong in the creativity department, as a lot of recent hits have been built by these independent groups. I do worry that because of patched successes, like Battlefront II and No Mans Sky becoming hits after patching, it'll start a trend in 'Fix it later.' Nintendo seems to be among the only AAA companies not to have gone down that road too much, so that's good to see.
I do worry that because of patched successes, like Battlefront II and No Mans Sky becoming hits after patching, it'll start a trend in 'Fix it later.'
This is a poor practice indeed Doctor Zurvan, as it just makes games seem as if they were rushed out the door with minimal effort, and the effort is done when the community flames the game.
Nintendo seems to be among the only AAA companies not to have gone down that road too much, so that's good to see.
I would have to disagree with that, as while Nintendo definitely has maintained a reputation, a few months ago I watched a video claiming that Nintendo has made their hands extremely dirty in the past. I don't remember what it was, and I always take information about gaming with a grain of salt nowadays, but it just comes to show nobody is a good guy here. Most companies exist to make profit over anything else.
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No Man's Sky is a bit of an outlier, since they have been running a trust-win-back campaign since 2016 with no extra charges for updates since. Now this doesn't mean that any unfinished game has any excuse, Hello Games is the rare exception to the rule in that they actually really cared for their game and got swept up in inexperience and hype backed by Sony.
Now this doesn't mean that any unfinished game has any excuse, Hello Games is the rare exception to the rule in that they actually really cared for their game and got swept up in inexperience and hype backed by Sony.
Talk about a story of redemption, look no further than No Mans Sky! I want to give that game a go someday, but I always forget!
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[DISREGARD].
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Oh, boy.
To me, there's been a very large shift in especially the AAA game industry (that means games made by studios like EA, Bethesda, Activision etc). When I was young (I was born in 1993) DOOM first came out. It was a game made by geeks, for geeks. 1/3 of the game was distributed to shareware, meaning that you get a demo of the first few levels, and if you liked it, you could buy it! As flawed as the model could be (notoriously easy to crack), there was a mentality of respect for the customer. They didn't ask for money up front, you got to sample the product first.
In the time since, the game industry grew very profitable, and that when ''corporate'' moved in. Andrew Wilson (the CEO of EA) and Bobby Kotick (Activision-Blizzard) don't actually give a damn about games, they care about the money it makes, the second yacht it will buy them. There's been a shift in customer base, namely that games no longer tailor to gamers so much as the profit tailors to shareholders. They're the real customers now, and we're the way of making money, especially what they derogatorily call ''whales'', or people that spend hundreds of thousands of dollars paying for microtransactions, lootboxes, special editions, DLC and other tomfuckery.
These aren't just rich kids paying for the game for us, I've read horror stories of kids and gambling addicts draining their savings for FIFA card packs or kids that didn't understand it was real money. It's really easy to call these people idiots when you have never dealt with addiction or had someone close to you deal with it, but these companies are intentionally preying on weaker people to exploit as much coin as they can. They pay their developers poorly, crunch them when it's not going fast enough, then lay them off on release day.
Now when it comes to INDIE games, it's like night and day. It has never been easier to make your own passion project and you have more chance to succeed than ever, even in a saturated market.
- Hollow Knight, a metroidvania where you play as a cute bug knight that explores a massive game world and defeats bosses, all under an umbrella of a beautiful atmosphere and sountrack. This game costs 15 dollars and is made by 3 people. I have ~60 hours in it.
- Undertale, you know this one.
- Shovel Knight. Yacht Club Studios gives us FOUR campaigns from the perspectives of different quirky characters. It's a platformer that invokes the NES era.
- FTL, faster than light. You're a captain managing a spaceship, and control individual systems and crew on it. Tell your crew what to do, power systems, repair damage, target specific enemy systems (like weapons, shields, oxygen). You can even have ships that specialise in boarding, or drones, or cloaking, all viable strategies. This game is tough, you'll probably die on your first go, but you might unlock a new ship or a new layout for an existing one when you do so. The goal is to make it to the Federation base before the rebels do, and you build your ship up as you go along.
- Disco Elysium: A staggeringly well written story about a man who argues with his own mind as much as others, you don't remember who you are, but piece yourself back together over the course of the story. It has skill checks, but not in the way you expect them to. You roll for rhetoric, conceptualization, encyclopedia, different parts of your personality, which all have a voice. It's a lot to read, but the story is gripping.
- Celeste. On the service it's a hard platformer, but the story is a lesson on depression, anxiety and overcoming despite all odds.
- Papers, Please: On the surface, a simulator where you have to process immigrants after the Fantasy Cold War, you get to decide if someone gets through if their paperwork is in order and trying to spot inconsistencies or flaws in their paperwork. As the days go on though, you'll learn about the personal stories of refugees, get to decide whether to follow he rules of the state or reunite a torn family, even if it might endanger your own. This game was made by one person.
- Stardew Valley: When you want to have an afternoon with a podcast on and not worry about anything but your turnips for a while.
- Outer Worlds: More AA than indie, but these are the makers of New Vegas and this game is very very good. It's like Fallout in Space and actually written well. Come to think of it, just play New Vegas too, it's cheap now.
- Subnautica: An amazing and harrowing survival game on a water world. Hauntingly beautiful, has an actual story with a beginning, middle and end, and is a horror game on the weekends.
- Hades: Supergiant games does something not many other games do, and that's integrating story into gameplay. Supergiant games have beautifully stylised graphics, isometric gameplay and the voice acting is staggering. You play as Zagreus, trying to escape from the underworld over and over again, against the wished of his dad, Hades. You build relationships with other characters, unlock new weapons to throw yourself against the Underworld over and over again (this being a roguelite) in order to eventually finally break through. It's fun!
tl;dr: AAA games are a waste of your money, they come out WAY before they're ready, charge more for the complete game (special editions) treat their costumers AND employees like shit, cater to their shareholders before anyone else, drop the central servers (aka KILLING your game) as soon as they don't feel like doing it anymore, cut out parts of the game to flog back to you as DLC, use gambling mechanics to try and goad kids to spend money, and have no responsibility for it whatsoever. Fuck em, play indie games instead. The developers actually have passion, they're cheaper, and they're FINISHED.
In the time since, the game industry grew very profitable, and that when ''corporate'' moved in. Andrew Wilson (the CEO of EA) and Bobby Kotick (Activision-Blizzard) don't actually give a damn about games, they care about the money it makes, the second yacht it will buy them. There's been a shift in customer base, namely that games no longer tailor to gamers so much as the profit tailors to shareholders. They're the real customers now, and we're the way of making money, especially what they derogatorily call ''whales'', or people that spend hundreds of thousands of dollars paying for microtransactions, lootboxes, special editions, DLC and other tomfuckery.
While I don't like reading through rants, this is a point. You have a bunch of developers who care about the games they make, and want the best, but above them you have these pencil-pushing financialists who only seek to make money, and likely don't even know what their employees are working on. Granted, game development had become more expensive, and companies still need to make profits, but when a company shows off pure greed (it only needs to seem that way), it does get questionable.
AAA games are a waste of your money, they come out WAY before they're ready, charge more for the complete game (special editions) treat their costumers AND employees like shit, cater to their shareholders before anyone else, drop the central servers (aka KILLING your game) as soon as they don't feel like doing it anymore, cut out parts of the game to flog back to you as DLC
Paid DLC and lootboxes are the demons in AAA games. I cannot say I am against microtransactions, as again, development is expensive and stressful, but when they are used to gatekeep content, F*CK THEM! Also, when you drop 60 USD on a game, and you blow an additional 60 USD on content that could have come with the game (which you probably won't play for more than one, maybe two years), it does feel like a middle finger in the face.
The same can't be said for all AAA games (the rebooted DOOM franchise does not seem to be too greedy). However, if we're talking EA and Activision Blizzard…well, what has not been said.
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Paid DLC and lootboxes are the demons in AAA games. I cannot say I am against microtransactions, as again, development is expensive and stressful,
Yeah, if I'm honest, this is just an excuse (not from you, from the publishers), and I'll tell you why.
Companies like EA have in their financial report that the production of games is actually less expensive, not more. It's not hard to see why, especially when you look at something like the FIFA franchise. With every release, content creators on the games spot places where the '19' didn't get replaced with the '20', they're basically doing the bare minimum (sometimes not even that) to slightly update the engines, make the animations a bit better (or breaking them) and remove features, only to replace them with features that can be monetised.
Something like the Witcher 3 with 2 DLCs can make back their money extremely comfortably, same with the Soulsborne series. They never have to pull pre-order stunts and microtransations to keep themselves afloat. There's a real difference in attitude. CD Project Red, flawed as they are, want to make a good product that sells well. Other companies want as much money as possible for the least possible effort, and with long-term community trust be damned.
Sometimes people say to me: ''Well Lev, companies want money, of course they want to make a profit!''
Of course they do, but there's, to me, a huge difference between ''make a good product that sells well'' and ''all of the money, as much as possible, no matter what people we have to exploit or what alienation to the fanbase we do, because we need to pay our CEO's a 30 million dollar bonus after we dropkick the developers after or even before release.''
Lets hope wikidot does not bug this post!
Companies like EA have in their financial report that the production of games is actually less expensive, not more. It's not hard to see why, especially when you look at something like the FIFA franchise. With every release, content creators on the games spot places where the '19' didn't get replaced with the '20', they're basically doing the bare minimum (sometimes not even that) to slightly update the engines, make the animations a bit better (or breaking them) and remove features, only to replace them with features that can be monetised.
Didn't even think about that Leveritas Every FIFA games these days may as well be the same product resold though. That is just rubbing salt into the wounds for the gamers. They are an obvious cash grab.
Something like the Witcher 3 with 2 DLCs can make back their money extremely comfortably, same with the Soulsborne series.
Witcher 3 is a really good game!
My final answer to this is; I've stopped caring. I was never really into those AAA games that have a release every year. When it comes to me and gaming, I want a game I can really sink my teeth into and play for years on end. While those usually have microtransactions, they are live service games that I play for years, so I mind it far less. What I don't want is a 60 USD game that will end up pulling 250 USD in the year that I play it, and that is said for most AAA series.
Again my opinion, so you don't have to agree. But, I feel that you can agree with the statement about a 60 USD game turning into a 250 USD game.
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While I find it interesting I don't really care for Gaming politics. I don't have that much more time for Games anyways, so the only thing I'm really playing and buying is the rare indie gem like Hollow Knight or a lot of Nintendo first-party titles. I have fun with these games and put a lot of time into them and that's really all that matters for me.
Apart from my personal experience, I think it's more of a spectrum. Yes, every company wants to profit, but some have more of an "attitude" than others (this extends to indie developers as well). Just buy what you like and ignore the rest.
Damn! You are all so amazing at opening up forgotten opinions in a dumb, Gen-Z member like andromedaz! :)
That is the attitude. This is something most people in gaming communities always miss. While I do think Leveritas had good points about how bad the AAA industry is, most people become oblivious to it. In other words, they don't care, and if they do they're not showing it. People will play what they enjoy, spend money on what they want, and whatever I or anyone else has to say about the industries themselves or to each other, is irrelevant to the progress of it, so to speak. It may not be the ideal situation, but it is the situation so…I don't know what else to say here.
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The gaming community also has its fair share of problems, the extreme toxicity irradiating off of every Online game I’ve played honestly makes me lose hope in online gaming. I can’t even play my favorite games without being called a “hacker”, threatened to be booted and/or called a racial slur by some 9 year old kids or 9 year old adults, and that’s another thing, I’ve seen kids as young as 5-6 get their hands on games like COD and Fortnite, cussing out everyone and saying some nasty sexual shit. Fortnite may have had something to do with the large population of kiddie gamers
And I should probably just stop here before it becomes a rant, so see you all in therapy.
SCP Foundation, a place where we can express ourselves fully.
The most toxic gaming community: The Gaming Community.
When Microsoft introduced Xbox live in combination with MMOs, well, that was just asking for toxic communities to form. Granted, with the countless hours I've sunk into game chats, I've become numb to toxic cliches that kids have used. Granted, sometimes trash talking is part of the fun, but when you get a 8 year old saying [EXPUNGED]1 every 6 seconds, it is annoying.
Fortnite may have had something to do with the large population of kiddie gamers
Good that this is stricken through as Fortnite was by no means the first. In the time I was obsessed with that game (the reason behind my avatar), toxic kids were prominent, but they were just like the old clips of Xbox live chats. So every MMO counts. In terms of Fortnite however, what I think plagues the community there are immature 13-16 year old kids in the competitive side of the game, who always talk about how they ████ ██ █████ girls,2 and whenever they die, they talk in some dumb cliches instead of accepting defeat.3
Note: Expungments here are not roleplay (that is not allowed on the site), its for subjects that should be left out.
where we landing? not tilted! ッ
Phew, luckily I had watched what I said otherwise it may have been a personal attack, considering that you are the wiki’s fortnite guy (or person, not gonna assume your gender), a quote that I may have gotten incorrect from your introductory post. Anyways, back to the subject. As much as I hated on Fortnite and constantly dissed it, admittedly, it used to be my favorite game as well, me and my buddies used to hop onto the game most nights and pretty spend hours on it, whether it be doing build battles in playground or AC-130(ing) people from above in helicopters and planes. It was something I looked forward to after school, oh how I longed for those days, my interest for the game spiked during season 7 and my opinion turned sour during season 9 and forward, nowadays, I can’t even play without running into bob the builder or my fill teammates going
a̴̡̡̢̧̧̢̨̧̨̛̛̛̜̼̬̘̥͖͖̝̤̫̯̜̩̮̱͔̪̞̼̮̼̺̞̜̞̥̘̤̞͍̲̖̰͇̹̠̜̫͈̪̫̠̟̭̫͉͔̼͔̻̹͕̩̯̮̣̥̲̖̭̖̥͙̱̝̙̝̞͙̩͇͇͓̭̪̼̳͙̟̲̜̬̣̠̠̪̺̬̞̺̫̙̣̱͓͔͍̺̪̗̫͓̗̬̳̠̭͈͉̩̤͚͎͚͚̻̙͌̀̃͂̇͛̄̒́͊̎̆͆̋̆͒̂̏͑̂̏͗̏̒̍͋̏̈́̄̓̐̆͛̈́̉̓̽̑̊̈́̍̍̓̈̔̓̿̾̏̋͗̏̂̓̃̈̊̿͗̍͌͆͊͒͗͐͒͑͊͌̊̆̓̅̔̀̈́̈́̔̈́̐̑̓͐̆̍̔͛̈́͛̿̇̌͑̌̑͂͊̆́͋̈́͊̌̂̈̋̑̃̾̾͒͆̂̏̈͊̈̎͐͑̈̅̂͊͛̇͋͋̈̄̆̏̏͌͐͌̈́̈́̍̉̅̅̄̂͛̈́̃̓̃͛̓̈̋́̂́̆́͘͘̕̕̚̚͘̚͘͘̚͜͜͜͝͝͠͝͝͠͠͠͝͠͝͠͝ͅͅḩ̷̡̡̢̧̧̡̡̡̨̨̧̢̡̡̢̧̨̢̡̛̛̛̛̛̛̛̛̬͕̱̟̟̝͎̥̙̣̦̝̤̪̻̬͇͉͍͉̖̩͙͇̟̝̞̤͓̝͔̱̩̬͓̗͓̬̼̗̩̲̼̱̦̘̬̤̖̭̹̟͖͚̳̥̟̖̯̲͉̟̠̙͚͉͉̯͖̥̮̬̼̼̟̣̙̰̱̙͈̳̗̪̥̤̫̯͔̜͓̺̫̼̺͔̮̳̱̹̻̠̝̲̫̙͎͔̬̱͇̩͇͔̟̤̫͕̝̬͔̮͎̮̝͔̲͔̯͎͚͚̣̦̱̬̼̲̫̞̤̤̳͉̠̱̖̹̯̝̜̮̭̰̭̭̤̦̬̪̤̭̦̪͇̟̩̹̖͇͈͈͉͇͉̠̩̮̰̪̱̭̮̝̳̞͎̼͙̙̠͓̖͈̳͕̳̱͖̥̼̮̖͍̥̥̥̣̦̖͇̦̠̯̮̺̦̗̥̳̳͔̠̃͊͊͊̀̀̆̑̃͋̓̌̉̂͗͌̽̒̈́̽̀͒̿̏̋̇̉̓̍̐̆̀̐̐̉̍̅́̾͛̌̋̈͆̉̿̀̋̇̏̈̈̃̿̀̊̏͆̏͗̐̒̿̀̑̏̒̀̀̿͗̆̈̔̇̇̇̒̈́̒̅̑̈́̿̿̈͗́͌̓͗̀͊̿̐́̂̀͑̊̐̃̽̀́̋̋̓̒̈́͂͛̓͊͌͊̌̉͐̉̓̑͒̓̏̍͒͆̒͒̽͗̽̂͌̑͐͂̈́͒̒̄̉̽̂̅͌̈̈́̍́̂̏̅͂̄̒̊̒̃̓̀̈̇̏̔͗̉̏̈́͆̉̾̈͐͗́̀̐̔͑̓̚͘̚̕̕͘̚͘̚̚̚͘͜͜͜͜͜͜͜͝͝͝͝͠͠͝͝͝͠͝͝͝͠͠͝ͅͅͅͅų̵̢̨̡̢̧̢̨̢̧̧̧̡̢̢̛̛̛̲͍̹͕͓͉͍̝͚͉̖̻̫̯̖͎̪̭̫͉̭̥̪̜͚̖͓̤̱̞̟̞̲̭̣̳̗̝͉͇̯͚͈̦̖̙̮̬͓͚͍͎̗̮̻̦͔͔̟̥̲̦̫̥͇̼̼͙̳̟̳̘̥͔̮͓̺̹̦̭͈̰̹̮̱̭͎̺̞̳͎͓̼̣̫͎̮͍̖̮̠̻̱͎̘̟͓̦̱̥̤͚̼̰̻͈͉̥̜̞̺͈̪̗̰̫͉̦̖̪̯̞̱͙̟͈̤̯̣̦͕̩̗̜̣̤̲͚̮̩̗̻̗͈̘̞̬̦̮̖̯̙̪͕̺̹͙̳̱̙̗̭͇̳̺͇͔̫̣͍͉̬̩̠̣͔̮̣̖͇̰̥͙̝̪̠̗̤͓͙͖̻̝͈̯̟̼̘͓̝͚̣̰͇̬̳̙̟̯̠̬͈̳͓̬̼̯͈̃͋̄̅͗͊͂̊̄̅̾̄̅͒͊͌̾̈́̒̎̋̽̀̓͂͂̍̑͛̆́̓̈́͐̅̄̑͗͊͂̈̔̀̇̿́̈́̏̈́̊͛̒͐͌̑̒̈́͗͌̄͛̀̀͛̍̀͛͊̓́̅̎̊̊̈́̆͂̉͊͊̀͆́̿͐̽̽̏̍͆̐̎̈́̀̇̽͂̑̿̀͒́̏̾͐̓͐̊̿̓̆͑̂͋̂̈́̀̂̆̆̀̔̄̑̅̉͑̅̎̒͛̈́̊̅̓̽̇̑̂̎̄̚̕͘͘̕͘͘͘͘̚̕͘̕͜͜͜͜͝͝͝͝͝͝͠͠͝͠͝͝͠͝͝͝͝ͅͅͅͅͅi̸̧̧̡̡̨̡̧̢̧̢̛̛̛̛̛̛̛̺͉̰̭̼̦̬̺̦̞̮̥̼̬͍̠̥͍̲̲̖̩̜̖̖̼̳̯̗͍͔̟͇̫͖̪̲̝̩̲̫̟͔̠̩̰̗̙̤̭͎̖̪͚̰̪̯̠̼͚̻̫̜̦̼̰̟̰̠͓̜̟̩̣̜̺̯̱̰̞̳͇̺͍̣̦͎͓̦̙̞̠̺͓͉̫̞͍̭̙͈͔̻̺̪̠̙̮͈̩͍͇̟̹̿̎̈́̐̐̈́̾͑̀́̌̿͆͂̏̑̓̂͊̀͑̇̏̌͂̄͒̄̈́̿̌̈́͑̔͗̇͗͒͑͒̓͛̀̒̆̋̿̐̂́̀̎̔͆͋̑̓̔̆̄̂̾͋̽̄̓̈̅͌͛̾̀̉͋̈́̆̆͗͂̒̃͂̿̑͌̈͂̀̆̿̈́̋̄̉͐̏̈́́̑̓̄̀̀̇͌́̍̾̏̆̊̓͒́̎̇̃͒̃̋͒͑̆̊̄̿͋̋̑̔͗̎̂̋͒͑͛̊̿̀͒̂̀̀̂̀̿͒́̿̓̋̐́͌̈̃̇͒̑͑̉̀̈́̽̌̐͊̏̏́̉̌̔̓̉̐̌̈̒̀͑̆̈́͆͌͋͌̾͛̿͗̾͑̒̃͂̌̀͛̔̆̾͒́̓̃͆͑́̈́̆̇̌̀̈̀̽̉̋̋̂̈́̀̓͒͋̓͒͋̀̒̑̐̈́̚̕̚͘̕̕̚͘͘̚͘͘̚̕͜͝͝͠͠͠͝͠͝͝͠͝͠͝͝͝͝͝ͅͅf̵̨̢̧̢̨̧̨̢̢̧̢̡̛̛̛̛̛̭̯̱͓̫̰͓͕̬̲͉̜͙͖̺̻͇̠̞̯͎̳̲͖̰͙̭̣̯̟̫͚̱̳̹͇̩̬͚̤̲̩̝̰̦͚̟̬͎̬͚͎̞̹̠̫̖͕͕̺̺͉̭͍͎͙̠̞̲̼̞͙͓̻̯̗̲͓̺̜̞̞̮̦͈̱͇͓̞͙̙̮͚̤̻͇͓͍͓͓̞̼̠͓̺͉̤̲͈̹̩̼̘̪̖̺͚͚͔̮͇͖͕̗̲̖̪̪̱͚̥͈̥̥̫̱͎̗͓̗͚̻͎̏̆͒̐̌͆͛͒̑̆͒̐̍̇́̂̋̏͋̒̒̊̓̈́͋̈̋̏̈́͌̋́̂̆̈́̈̂͛̓̀͐̈́̅͋́͗͑̈͛̈́̋̋̈́̽̿̓͆̀́͆͋̑̿̄́̉̊̑̂̃̐͊̔̔̋́̄̒̉̒̌̈̐̽̄̃̏͋̈́̎͑̓͂̏̂͌͗̽́͊̾̊͑́̐́͋̋͗̀͛͆͗̀̋̊̌̏̿̾̀̉̌̑̀̉̋̔̔̓̂͊͗̈́̎̐̀͗̽̂̇͗̃̍̈̉̾̆̾́͒̿̈́͒͒̀́̐̈͒́̓̀̏̀͛̾́̄͛̈̐͆̈́̒̐̂͐́̅̒̂̀̏̅̕͘̚̚̕͘͘͘͘̚̕̕̕̕̕̕͜͜͜͝͝͝͝͝͠ͅͅͅg̸̢̛͎̲͇̙̤̯͈͕͚̱̪͈̗̬̯̞̰̝̭̞̬̳̦̞̹̰̖͈̪͎̰̗̝̼̬̾̒͂̿͑́̽̀̈́̆͒̈́̿̇̽͑͊́̈́̊̀͋͒̎̌͋͂͗̑̅̐̓̽̋̀̓̋̋̀̋̊͛̀̓́̉̀̾͛̅͐͗̃̓͛͛̐̽͌̉͐̐͋̍͆̑̆̽͂͑́̐̂̆̋͋̍̌͐̈͊̂̏͂͛̒́̔̾̈́̾̈́̒͛̄̐̈́̋̉̈̎͒̓̓̃̀̐̉̚̚̕̕͘͘̕͜͝͝͠i̸̛̛̛̛̛̛̛͔̮͚͉̝͈̞͍̙̼̦̽̀̈̈̃̆͆̔́͊̈̽͋͋͗̀̓͒̒̈̅̀́̏͛̅̋̓́͑͋̆͒͌̌̽̄̽́̽̀̇́͗͒̃͐̎͗̋̈̑̌̏̄̐̈́͂́͌̈́̈́̓͊̍̓̒̊̅̊̈́̅͛͌͊̀̏̍̉́̈́͑̎̿͋̃͊̇̒̊̊̌̈́͐͋͛͂̓͗̉̌́͌͆̾͑̈͂͊́̏͒̔̋̃͂̋̇̓̅͑͂̈́́͊̏̎̆̍̍͑͂͐̋̇̌̂̀͊̌͌̅̇̐̊̽̏̈̀̿͛̊̿̊̽͛̊̊̔̇͛͂̈͑̍͒̽̔͛͌͌͂͌̔͌̇̓̀̈́̄͘͘̕͘̚͘̕̕̚͘̕̚̕͘͠͠͝͠͠͠͝͝͝͝͠͠͝͝͠͠͝͠͝d̸̨̡̨̡̧̧̢̢̡̧̧̨̨̢̢̡̡̨̡̡̡̨̛̛̛̛̛̛̛͎̣͎̦̼̺͍̥̳̠̱͉̞̰̹̤͈͎̳̳̦̻̳̫̻͔̲̱̘̙̯̺̱̮̝̤͉͇̫͓̣͕͍̗̝͉͚͚̻̣̣͇̜̯̗͍͍̝̝̱̼̥̯̫̖̩̜̞̞͚̺̦͓͔̖̞̝͕͉̪̠̻̞̬͔̙͉̪̲̰̹͕̹̯̜͎̙͈͔̱͎̳̘̘̝̪̼̳̙̜͚̬͇̦̯̫̗͕͎̳̮̬̯͓̞̙̼͍̫͕̥͓̰͚̝̪̬͈̥̤͔͈̻̦̭̪̞̜̰̰͍͚̙̠̠͍̮͈͍͇̺͖̤͙͖̲̗͇̞͇̝̜̠̩̗̳̫̱̗̱͈̥̪̝̭̞͉̱̪̠͇͉͚͉̣̬̖̣̫̪̹̮͙̪̖̱̝͚̭̙̩͇̮̻̟̣͎̻̙̺̝̙͚̦̻͕͉̟̮͓̻̳̳̮̬̲̱̗̘̬͍̞̘̜̲̱̼̥̽̀̀͌̽̏̈̄͊͑̂̓̽̀͑̈́̃̈́̏̃̑͒͋̈́̈́͋̄͐͗̓̐̅̓͗̀̈͊̓̀̇͗̑͌̈́͗͌͊̎̓̈́̈̿̌́̊̍̅͗̽̅͌̐̑̐̊̓̂͐̓̓̑͂̆̈́̋̀̄̏̏̑̃̀̈́̒̀̊̍̓̓̇̎̃̒̆̓͗̏͑͋̔͛̍́̊͛̀̂́̉̑̎̿̈́̓͆̂͑̊̎̈́̈͒͋͛̐̊̒̊͑́̐͂̋̈́̿͗̄̀̔̑̓̇̏̂̅̿̔͛̂̍̽́̈́̽̉́́̆̄̅̈́̓̌̎̓̑̓͑̊̌̍͛̅͂́̔͌̄̏͐̌̈́̓̈́̏̉̓̈̆̑͂̾͑̃͌̄̉͒̆̓͋̈́̓̃̉͊͑͐̇̂͛́̋̋͐̊̐͛̾̋̀̈́̅̆̾̍͌͗̈́̓̐̾̽̒̌̆̈́̿̊̅̂͒͑́̌̄͌̋͋̆̚̚̕͘̕͘͘̚̚̚̚̚͘̕̚͘͜͜͜͜͜͜͜͠͝͝͝͝͝͝͠͝͝͝͠͠͝͠͝͠͝͝͠ͅͅͅͅģ̶̧̡̧̨̢̨̧̧̧̢̧̧̧̢̡̧̢̧̢̨̢̢̧̡̢̨̡̡̨͔͇͇̪̲̟͖̣͎̻̣̳͈͉̳͙̥͎͉͓̟̝̖̳͎̫̞̮̳̺̘̭̳̩̱͇̫̺͇̻̫̥̹̞͉̖̜̺̩͍̩͚̱̜̮̱͖̙̣̫̖̦͔̖̳̹͓̥̩̻̻̥͎͔̤̩͚̮͓̱̳̯͚̼͍̙͍͙̩͓̪̞̭̹̙̠̬̫͙͓̹̯̫̣̟̖͖̯̘̘͍̣̯̭̣̻̜̗͚̝̥̘̞̯̜̥̣͔̳̦̳̦͍͔̬̞̗̘̖̥̩͓̤͎̩̳̼̠͙̯̤̯͈͓̗̪̜͙̻̭̮̠͕̖̮̤̤̲̮̘̫̟͕͍̻̰͚̼̗̥̪̮͚̭̟̥̳͚̗͎̮̬̠̠͔͍̺̟̣͔̖̙̳̖̭̳̈̓͂̉̊̐͂͒̓͋͗̄̈́̇̌͒͐͒́̑̔̽̽͑̃́̏̎̍͛̿̚͘̕͜͜͝͝ͅͅͅͅͅẗ̵̡̧̡̡̧̧̧̨̨̨̨̡̢̡̨̢̢̧̨̨̨̡̛̛̺̼̭̹͔̪͉̟͖̳͚̞͍̥̳͈̘͇̜̻͉̬̟͕̹̼̖̖̗͉̭͖̲̤͇̬̜̼͖̘̙͍͇͉̻͇̳̰̺̮̝̮̖̹̳̜̻̹͍͔̼̳͎̻̫̙̪̪̥̣͖̺͍̞̞̺̭̖͖̠̗͔̹̺̭̻̮̙̼͉̞̤̫͕̮͇̮̱̘̳̰̟͙̥̯̞̱̮̖̻̳̣̖̜̞̹̯͙̼͎͚̳̭͖̗͕̻͍̳͈͎̤̘̙̠͈̳͕̥͕̫͉̰̱̣͙̺̩̦̲͍̗̰̣̜͉̲̯͈̰̘̣̟̩̙̙̪̹̟̱̭̠̮̱̠̤̖̹̣͇͇̟̹̝̰̳̖͉̹̘͕̼̜̹̮̣̩̹͉͚̤̞̮̹̘̻̱̪̱̙̺̮̳̻̝͔̩̼̼͓͕̹͔̯͖́̋͑̓́͂̾̃́̊̏́̎͗̃̏͛̈̆̏͆̽͒̓̓̎̿͊̊̓̈̈̿̉͗̈́̆͂́͐̚͘̚̕͘͜͜͜͜͜͜͜͠ͅͅͅr̴̢̧̡̨̧̢̨̧̧̨̢̡̢̢̧̨̧̡̧̨̡̢̢̨̧̛̛̛̛͉̤͔̯̠̜͇͕̦̘̠̱̠̦͎̹̠̦̪͇̱̳͇̣̞͇̫̬̯͈͙̹̟̤̥̖̮̲̼͕̺̺̮͇̭̣̻̤̤̜̜͔͕͈͇̞̱̜̜̙̞̝̪͙͚̗͇͓̭̗̭̩̲͔͔̻̺̯͕̪̩̼̠͈͈̟̙͙̙̙̖̖̻͍͎̭̖͍̫̫͎͚̟̱͓͎͚̥̮̙̭͓͚̤͕̱͎̦͔̼̼̲̩̣͚̹̜̗̙̻̰̭̺̩̖̲̪̳̝̬͔̲͍̬̟͕̪͙͇̥̜̱̜̠̱͇̥̫̝̞̲̳̥͎̗̠̱͓͕͍͓͙͉̠̖̞̙̜̖͙͈̗̱̤͔̻̯̫̬͎̟̹̜̬̮̰̦̖͍̼̹̘̮̜͙͚̠͈͓͎̆́̄̉̒̑̍͑̐̅̄̏̔̑͛̉̒̈́̽̓̎̀̒̔͌̈͋̓̀̈́̔̓͊́̈̽̂͒̊̈́͐̉̃̉́̉̆̍̄̇́̾̅̑͐͋̏̿́͐͗̍̈́͋̌̈́̉̎̆̏̄͑̿̀̓́͗̔̆͂̀̍̾̌͊̄͌͛̃͆͌̍̐̇͊̀́̏̍̽̈́̈́̋͐͋̿̍̃̈́̄̋̌̾͋̈̃͗̌̈́͆̄̍̈́̓̎͒̑̍̊̕͘͘̕͘̚̕̕̚͘̚̕̕̕͘͜͜͜͜͜͠͝͠͝͝͝͠͠͠͝͝͠͠ͅͅͅͅͅń̶̨̧̡̡̧̧̢̛̛̙͍͖͓̠̮̦͙͎̠͎̣͎͕͍̻̞̭̖̬̹͎̬̲̫̤̩̺͎̲̣̭̭̖͉͖̗̲̺̗͍̖̲͎̭̪͔̻̻̜̮͔̻̜̦͙̟͖̤̭͉̫͍͍͇̞̞̦̰̙̳̠͉̥̟̻̤͉͙̠̼͙̥̯̲̙̘̉̈̌͒͐͂̆͋̉̑͌̂͛́͂͑̌̍̒̀̔́́̔̉̑̀̾͒̾̊̌̂̒̀̍̎̊͑́̏̎͆̎̾̀̂̇̈̽̈́̍̃̒̃̊͌̔̃̉͐̃̉͌̇̂̿͐̂̈́̈́͑͌̈́̓͌͋͊̐́̄́̓̀͌͋̊͑͐̒̾̋̃͆̔͗̈́̃̏̿́̿͊̾́̐̌̉̏͊̄͑̉͐̓̄̽͌͑̇̒̉̀́̀̒̄̿̏͊̏̅̉̐̃̍̑̓́̽̌̒̾̈́̈́͗̑͐̌͑̓͑̎̅̆̽͒̃͒̽̊̅̾̉͌̅̄͌̄̅͐̉͛̾̃̑͋̎̾̈̽͛̒̋͌̎̽̚͘̚̕̕̕͘͘̕̕̚̚̕̕͠͝͠͝͝͝͠͠͝͠͠͠͝͝͝͠ͅẹ̶̢̢̢̧̨̛̛̛̛̛̛̛͖̖̬̫̣͎̦̪̩̟̥̮͉̺̮͓̥̱̳̥̤̞̰͕̫̼͎̳̰̗͇̘̼̯̠͔̄̎̿͑̈́͊͌̂͒̅̋̽̋͋͆̓̐̐̎̆͆̇͂̒̑̄̽̀͗̈́̆̑̄̿̓͆̓́̃͐̃͛̆̑̉̈͊͆̅͂͛̓̐̄̓͑̾̓͛̅͌͊͌̑̍̅̂̈͛̽̋̃̓̈́͛́̐̿̍̎̑̃͗̈́̾̉́͗̈́͒̿̄͆͆͌̉͐̐͑͑͋͑̅̏̈̌̆́̒͒̓͗̏͌̔͒̎̂͐́̑̍̕̕͘̚̕̚͘̕͝͠͝͠͠͠͠͠͝͝͠͠ͅͅī̴̢̡̨̢̧̡̢̡̨̨̨̡̛̳͍̟͉͙̮̞̘͓̺̩͚̝̪̬̲̲̟̠̯̱̩̜̜̖̤͔̤̲̖͈̞̜̞̙̦̖̟͇̺̭̩̖͇̫͉̣͕̟̙͇̠̦͇̫̪͙̜͍̦͎̰̯̹̭͙͙̪̫̲͉̮̥̣̬͕͖̪̬̜͇̫̻̼̻͖̯̙͈̫̝͉̗̟̩̣͚̠̮̺̖̫̖̯̠̘̠̲̬̼̣̲̞̣̬̟͎̟̝͙̥̠͍̻̩͉̯̻͎͕̩͇̩̦̺͓͓̹͔͍̖̭͉̼͚̗̙̥̺̭͚̈́͒̀̐̍̌̔͋̅͆͐͑̄͂́͒̍̌͆̄̒̿͌̈́̀͒̐̓͑̏̈̍́́̽̓̄̓̐̿̍̈́̀̄͐́̐͐̀̿͊̑̔̓̄́͋̓̓̌̇̈́̅͋́̀́̿́͐̌̚̕̕̚͘͜͜͜͜͜͝͠͝͠ͅc̵̡̡̡̧̧̨̡̨̡̡̢̨͙̼̣̠̯̳̫͓̘̪̣̟̘̯̱͚̠̲̤̮̲̹͉̟̮̺̺͕̤͓͇̗̟̲̪̹̰̥̫̖̳͇̘͖̲̥̻̭̖͙̝̳͕̻̹̪͉̞͖̠̫̺͔͎̯͔̰̲͚̺̪̦̣̖͓͉̥̠͓̯̺͓͚̜̤̖̳͚̜̯͈̙̭̻̞̳̣͎͚͇̙̳̙͓̯̻͓̗̞̠̲̰̰̲̺͕̭̝͎̞̟̪̬̾̀̂̉̽͒̾̊̊̉̇̅̀̄͂̈́̾͂͂̌̀̃̈́̃́̀̏͛͂̍̈́͘͝͠͝ͅͅͅͅͅư̷̢̨̧̡̛̛̛̛̛̙̯͔͙̪̜̲̻̳̯̟̞̪̳͍̬͇̰͕̞͇̙͈͍̯̥̝̣̝͎̗̻͎̮̮͚̪͓̲͈̭̠͌̈̌̑̐͛̍͆͐͐̀̈́͛͊̅̊̔̈́̃̏͊̂́̈͌͋̐̔͊̾͊̈́̓̈̀͑̍̇͛̓̊̈́͑̿̋̔̒̐̄͆̄̓̓̀͑͗̿́͛̓̉̂͊̍̈́͋̓͋̓̇̐͗̑̽̈́̓͛̒̍̾͋̋́̿̏̾̍͑̈́̽̋̀͆͊̐̍̓̅̆̑̽̆̀̾̋͛̔̊͊̐͑̉̾̔̀̿̈́̀̀̈́̿̍͊̓̈͌̈́̈́́́̄̅̒͆̈̀̂̐̔̓͑̽̕͘̕̚̚̚̕̚͜͜͝͠͝͠͠͝͝͝͝͠͠n̵̨̧̧̢̧̢̧̛̛̛̛̛̛̛̛̛̛̛̛̛̲͉̦̲̱͍͇̺͇̻̣͔͚̼̯̤̝͕͓̤͔̺̗̠̪̻̪͍͔̞̻̺̙̜̙̘̮̯͇̤̤͙̠̠̗͈͙͍̲̪̯̩̙͍̯̜̣̻̥̝͙̻̰͇̤͎͎̲͉͚̽̇̃̐̂̀͑̆̀̽͊͂̔̄̄̄̂̂̔͂͌͗͐̌́͂́̊̔͛̒̈̂̓͂͂̐̿͗̌͒́͗̐̽͆̿̋̒̈́̂̐͐̾̒̅̌̂̌͒̀́͐͂̈̆̓̏̊͑̽̋̊͐̅͊̄̑͐̊͛̈́̋̑̈́̓̂̏̈́͆̊̆̒͐̐͐̈́͒̅̈̒̓̌͌̃̅͊͆̇̔͋͊̿͊́̔̍̀͒̽̀̽̍̆͐̽͐̍̾̿̏̊̏̎͗̌̋̎́͒͆̾̀̍̀̉̔̄̃̈̊̉̔̀̈́̄͗͛͑͗͐̑͂̓̏͒̉́̑̏̓̑̋̈́͗̅̈̆͊͌̓͋͆̀̔͐̄̊̏͊͂̐̌̒̈́̓̍̓̈̌͊̑͌̑͒̈́́͌̽̅̄̿͛̀̅̓̀̀̕̚̕̕͘͘̚̕̚̚̕̚̚̚̕͜͠͝͝͝͝͠͠͝͝͠͝͠͝͠͝͠͠͝͠͠͠͝͠ͅͅh̷̨̧̢̧̧̢̢̢̢̡̨̡̧̧̢̧̡̢̡̨̧̢̡̧̧̡̨̢̢̪̦̘̟̜̦͙̥̪͔̹̮̘̺͕͔͓̮̫̝̝̖͎͉͙͔͚̥̞̯̫̼̼̳̜̘͉̮̺̲͚͇̰͖̟̪͇͇̳̺̘͙̝̬̥̘̘̹̦̟̼͚͍͕͖̘̗͉̻̖̤̭̼̜̪̖̹̼̳̙̻̥̰̘̩̜̠̹̮̣͉̲͙̦͖̞̘͙͔͔̝̻͙͇̻̪̱̫͈̺̠̪̤̺̠̬̺͇̟̪̯̥͓̥̺͓̘̮͎̲͖͓̺̗̦͕͔̟̥͓̣̘̼͓̱͕̻̱͎̬̮̜̮̙̙̠̤̮͇̪͈̻̮̞̬̥͓͈̳̻̫̫̭̮͎̥͍̹̬̺̠̘̻̰̲̠͍̫͕͎̤̯̣͕̠̹͓͖̦̰̱̲͓̖̟͚̠͙͔̠͚̬͍̩̣͈͚̫͉̮̹̱̜̟̠̭̣̗͓̗̻̓̋̊̽̍̎͒͗́̉̈́͗̊̓́̋̆̓̉̽͛͆̕̚͘͜͜͜͜͜͜͜͝͝͝ͅͅͅͅͅͅͅi̵̛̛̛̠̗̟͇̖̣̙̇̋͋̀̑͌̓́̏̀̈́̈̃̓̂͒̋̆̌̒̾̃͑̓̾́̀̐̿̑̌̅̂̉̀̀͒̅̽̽͂̓͊̋̎͂͂̓̔̈̊̓̌͛̎̒͛͋̈̄̑͐͂̂̔̄̀͑͂̒̅̌̍̋̆͆̔͋̽̇͛̒̔̋̀̀̃̄̂̅̓̍̉͋́͛͌̌͛̅̔̃͑̈͆͂̇̔͂̄̑̿͑̏̓̑͛̒͒̃̎̄̌̏͗́́̕͘͘̕̚͘̚̚̚͘͘͠͠͠͝͝͝͝͠͠͠͝͝͠͝͝v̴̧̡̡̡̧̨̧̡̨̡̧̧̡̧̧̧̧̡̨̛̟̯̜͍̬͉͍̩̥̰̭̝̳̙͕̙͍̻̻̞͓͍̣̹̹͉̹͕̼̮̠͔̹̤̻̫̯̥̰̜͈̙̯̺͔͈͔̼͚̞͕̬̤̘͔̠̩̳̻̲̥̫͙̠̲͓̲̖̪̱͍̯̟̝̼̺̻̖̬̮̜̳̫̻̝̻͓͕͉̥̹̱̹̬͍͚͈̼̥̲̖͚͎̗̹̙͓̻̲̠̭̭͇̺͕͉̪̖̮̠̠̤̼̩̬͇͇̬̠̣̦̬͕̬̬͇̞̰̤͓͙͓̮̺̗̩̪͖̭̘̤͕̖̦̲̼̳̗̖̮̞̲̖̜̺̣̭̼̟̫͉̞̲̥̲͕̙̠̞̲͖̞͉̩̺̹͎̙̤͇̲̟̳̭͈̤͔͉̮̳͚̻̠̱͓̭͖̲͈̲̲̼̱̹̳̫͎͍̮͔͔͋̈͒̊̈́̐̀͑̇̓̽̒̌́̈́̅̉͋̿̌̈́̓̒̅̍͌̄̉̿͛̈́̉̋̈́͛͂̈͆͂̎́̃̓͑̒̃̿̓̒̈́̊͒̇̈̈́͊̏̍̈́͊̊̾͋̈́͆̋̐͂̌̆͗̆͊̽̃̃̍̎̔͋̽͐́͋̑̿̋̉̀̈́̿͛̓̌͒̅̽̓̀͒̓̆̽̀̂̀̓̍̓͒̅̎̐̈́͛́͆̏̉́͑̅̎̀͛̄̿̂̍̎̄̋͛́̋͛̏͊̋̓͗̎͆̔̊̒̾̐́̀̈́̂̔̿̀͗̓͐̈́̉͑̈́͘̕͘̕̕̕͜͜͠͝͝͝͝͝͝͝ͅͅͅͅͅͅͅͅͅ ̶̢̡̡̢̢̨̨̨̛̛̖͉̹̪͚͉͇̳͖͍̻̲̳̠͚̻̠̣̤͎̙̻͎͔̳̼͓͈͚͙̗̳̰̣̻̣̘̩͉̹͓̝͈̱͙̱͎͖̯̳̩̦̼̜̫̰͚̠̩̪̇̀͗̃̏̑̉̍̍͊͆̿̊͂͒̄̂͒̂͌͑̓͋͋͆͊̌͐̀̀̿́̽̂̋́͊̓̈́̇̂̎̎͌̈́̿̐͗̓̇̆̎͆͌̀̒͛̌̚̕̕̚̚͜͝͝͝͠͠͠į̸̧̨̨̢̨̡̛̘̳͇̭̮͈͍͇͕̤͈̱̝͓̜̬͕͇̳͈̫̗̭̱̟͇̭͕͈̥͚͕̘̰̣̣̗̱͍̤͖̟͔̝̖̤͕̦͓͖̰̺̣̞̻̮̬̙̠͚̪͍͔̬̦̣̖̬̙͓̠͓̹̯̪̗̗͂̍́̅̈̔͌̐͌̐̀̈́̑̌̈́̑͊̀̽̋̅͗͒́͐̀́́̀̓̈̈́͋̀̎͋̍̅͑̈́̕̚͘͘̕͜͠͝͝ͅͅͅj̶̡̨̡̢̢̡̧̢̨̡̛̛̛̼̬̜͖̩̻̳̻̦̹̼̝̭̦͖̘̻̮̣̳̠͇̰̺̬̭̻̮͕̭͓̝̱̼̼̘̫͕̘̫̜͕̹̟̬̞̠͖͓͇̤͖̱̝̝̣͔̘̺̫̱̝͕̰̩̣̲͚̞̥͈̻̹̹͚̭͖̝̝͚̼̬̣̫̩͓͎̙͓͚̰̠͕̗̣̺̺̼͔͎̣̘̮̘̮̻̠̮̝̹͍͑͛̀̔̇̓̊̌͊̓̒͌̎̽́͆̊͊͐͂̌͂̿̀̿̉̉̍̆͌̈́̈́́̎̋͛̈́̑͆̆͊͋͂̽̃͌̑̔̆̂̋̑̉͑͊̄́̃̍̍́͌̑̾͆͂̈̈̓͛̏̇̌̓́̾͐̿̽̈́̓̀͒̈̒̓̄͌͗͌͒͛̉͑͊͋̿̂͛̇̄̉̽̋͂̓̓̈́͆̅̒͐̈́͆͗̌͒̌͋̽̐̂̓́̐̋̊͌̂̽̓̒̓̽̊͛͛̾̔̾̑̆̇̌̃̇̓̋͊̕̚͘͘̕̚͘̚͘͜͝͝͠͠͠͝͠͝͝͝͝͠ͅ
into their mics.
I somewhat agree and disagree with the Kiddie gamer statement, yes, I understand that fortnite surely wasn’t the one thing that created these child gamers, but it did attract a wave of them, or at least I think it did, I hadn’t seen such a huge amount of kids playing BR style games ever since fortnite had exploded, and tiktok certainly didn’t help, matter of fact, it further exposed them to all sorts of shit, teaching them and making them think some, well let’s just say it's nothing wholesome, breeding this new-, well, i’m not gonna say this new generation’s social media is bad, but I hope you know what I mean. Nowadays, you gotta be prepared with a comeback, otherwise your whole bloodline is gonna be disrespected or some kid is gonna call you a ,shame on you for thinking I was gonna say it, everytime you kill them in COD. Either way, I tried very hard to not make this a rant.
You know the Foundation is fictional right? I think I just saw a IRL kill agent with that collapsible!
Phew, luckily I had watched what I said otherwise it may have been a personal attack, considering that you are the wiki’s fortnite guy (or person, not gonna assume your gender), a quote that I may have gotten incorrect from your introductory post.
Good to know I'm not the only one who reads people's profiles. I thought I was alone with that. :)
Also, I consider myself a guy so your good.
I don't see your opinion on Fortnite as a personal attack, I see it as a valid opinion. Honest opinions expressed calmly always have a place! That is what the SCP Foundation is good for, and that is why we are the best community on the internet!
Besides, I've become numb to people attacking me for that. If it brings them satisfaction, then I'm glad they are becoming happier! Haters are going to hate you know.
As much as I hated on Fortnite and constantly dissed it, admittedly, it used to be my favorite game as well, me and my buddies used to hop onto the game most nights and pretty spend hours on it, whether it be doing build battles in playground or AC-130(ing) people from above in helicopters and planes. It was something I looked forward to after school, oh how I longed for those days, my interest for the game spiked during season 7 and my opinion turned sour during season 9…
We all enjoyed similar things at one point, whatever in life it was. I think the two real answers to what happened to old Fortnite are: 1, Everything is just better when its new. 2, We grew up. And those that were loyal, improved at the game.
Final statement, most people in fill in Fortnite and many other games don't have a mic at all, which is honestly worse.
[THAT WHOLE SECOND PARAGRAPH]
Your not wrong about this. While Fortnite did not start it, it certainly fueled the flames. And nowadays in BRs like Warzone, well just look up hotmics if your brave. I discourage it, but I cannot tell you what to do. Granted I am a Gen-Z member, but TikTok is pretty poor at putting out fires. I just despise the idea that one can win an argument by making some bullsh*t joke. I'll cut it here before I rant.
where we landing? not tilted! ッ
Long post
Agree with Leveritas about a lot of stuff, wanted to also mention that game developers/publishers (sadly including indies) generally treat their own employees like absolute trash. Relying on "crunch" (80+ hour workweeks for weeks or even months before a game is due), laying people off even when achieving record profits, and fostering extreme cultures of abuse. (We hear a lot of this about bigger companies, but imo that's because they have more employees to suffer it.)
On the screw-the-players side, I'm also very sick of companies releasing patently unfinished games and "fixing" them later, if at all. I'm not talking about Early Access: Supergiant used a ton of early access input to hone Hades to nearly the best game possible without crunching their workers.
I'm talking about things like Fallout 76, where a year/year and a half after release it was a decent, playable RPG, but rather that "developing" it as long as needed they tried to sell the flaws as features ("Who needs NPCs?") and released it in a basically nonplayable state.1
Indies are guilty of this too. Procedural Generation (e g., randomly generating levels and encounters) is a personal pet peeve of mine, and has been a boon for many indie developers because (for many) it reduces the burden of having to design a bunch of levels and encounters. Sometimes this is done right, but it can also lead to the same problem of the dev releasing a "complete" game that is basically just technically playable. MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries is notorious for garbage friendly AI and a ceaseless grind in boring/broken procedural missions. Just now, nearly two years after release, they're selling a paid DLC that actually has a well-developed linear story with scripted missions. The other game in the same universe (different dev), Battle tech, is still a garbage procedural grindfest.
One last thing:
Many of these people nowadays struggle to get enjoyment out of gaming, and always reminisce on their memories with the aforementioned games.
Just as true of any generation. I miss Half-Life and old MechWarrior and I still replay games from the 90s/early 2000s. I kinda feel like one possible difference between our generations is that companies are still releasing new properties for at least some of us (Zelda, Mario, Final Fantasy, etc ), whereas Minecraft, Fortnite BR, and Roblox are still going. (I'll admit that some continuing series, like CoD, are probably worse off for repeating.) That could just be a matter of time, though, or a change in the way games advance themselves. I guess I find the idea that those games are essentially story-less reduces the likelihood that they'll change much, but I'm trying not to be judgey.
For me personally, I'll rarely buy a AAA game unless it's something I'm very excited for, which usually just means it's in a franchise I like from my childhood. I mostly play small coop multiplayer games with friends (to avoid the toxic communities and people who are angry that I'm an adult and don't have time to "get good" at League of Legends or whatever) as well as weird indie games that I can play while listening to a podcast.
Footnotes
1. I'm also very much with others above that the $60 pricetag isn't a problem, these companies made billions without micro transactions or lootboxes and releasing finished games and are making even more money now. They choose to do these things and often produce deliberately worse games (don't get me started on "time-saver" micro transactions) because they know they can get away with it.
The conversation will never end.
Agree with Leveritas about a lot of stuff, wanted to also mention that game developers/publishers (sadly including indies) generally treat their own employees like absolute trash. Relying on "crunch" (80+ hour workweeks for weeks or even months before a game is due), laying people off even when achieving record profits, and fostering extreme cultures of abuse. (We hear a lot of this about bigger companies, but imo that's because they have more employees to suffer it.)
No ones is safe from this, not even indies. Employees who work continuously in rather questionable work environments, and are forced to meet a deadline set by someone who does not even know half the product they are putting out. When that deadline hits, the company would rather not delay the product and are just forced to push it out regardless of quality.
I'm talking about things like Fallout 76, where a year/year and a half after release it was a decent, playable RPG, but rather that "developing" it as long as needed they tried to sell the flaws as features ("Who needs NPCs?") and released it in a basically nonplayable state.
I've already talked about unfinished releases and fix later practices in this thread, but Fallout 76 is the epitome of a joke. I suggest you look at a YouTube video on the matter if you want to know more about this. It is so comical. Really left a bad stain on Bethesda as a whole. Something I also dislike is when people say "we don't need single player games in 2021, because people only want multiplayer games."1
Just as true of any generation. I miss Half-Life and old MechWarrior and I still replay games from the 90s/early 2000s. I kinda feel like one possible difference between our generations is that companies are still releasing new properties for at least some of us (Zelda, Mario, Final Fantasy, etc ), whereas Minecraft, Fortnite BR, and Roblox are still going. (I'll admit that some continuing series, like CoD, are probably worse off for repeating.)
It is easy to fall into nostalgia. On top of that, people just love to find things to complain about for further reminisce.
Old game series were franchises/series that had releases either annually or every few years. This includes titles like DOOM, Wolfenstein (not the rebooted series), and all those Nintendo games. In my generation, games like Minecraft are live service, and don't need sequels. Another aspect of games nowadays also rely heavily on content and creators. Especially the latter. For example, if it were not for content creators and streamers, the plane that is Fortnite would never have taken off in the first place (metaphor with the plane btw).
(to avoid the toxic communities and people who are angry that I'm an adult and don't have time to "get good" at League of Legends or whatever)
Nobody likes toxic communities. However, while I understand people feel this way, I get tired of people complaining about how "sweaty"2 games get. Most humans get competitive, attempt to be the best at something, and thus people get good, and games get sweaty irreversibly. Taking the League of Legends example, most people who play the game are hardcore players, and to get enjoyment out of the game, you either get better, find a more hospitable community in the game, or do like you do
where we landing? not tilted! ッ
I'm mostly going to echo others' opinions here, and I'm glad there are plenty of like-minded people here who care about the industry's livelihood.
Honestly my gripe is with the AAA companies, 99% of it being the Publishers like the infamous Activision and Electronic Arts.
This most recent pop-up of absolute bullshit where ATVI made over $2 billion in 2-3 months, yet are still firing people to "cut costs". Games like Cod have upwards of $25 microtransaction bundles in a full priced game (I have to disagree with the idea that they use them as a way to make up for "revenue loss" because these games are selling base game sales of well in the millions alone, MTX pushes it to the billions easily. They're clearly doing it for added profit, rather than a deficit.) These bundles aren't actually worth any more than $3-5 because players only purchase them for 1-3 items in these bundles, but the devs fill the bundles with a bunch of useless shite that the player gives literally no fucks about to boost the prices. It's toxic marketing at its finest.
Going back to the incident linked above, these people literally moved from Los Angeles to Wisconsin by being promised better pay and benefits just to be fired for business strategy. These people CRUNCH and CRUNCH and CRUNCH, just to get laid off and have their work forced on to a smaller group of individuals, which in turn will cause even more stress, vast morale drops, and worse work outcomes. They quite literally moved halfway across the country for THIS.
It's toxic and unacceptable. This is why I generally adore indie devs because they can make some seriously great games at over half the costs. They make games for the sake of the thrill, the fun, the creativity, the care, etc., rather than making them for the sake of profit and seeing them as $$$.
As an example, Phasmophobia is by far one of the most basic, non-complex, spooky indie games I've ever played, yet it's by far one of the best ones, too. I've got well over 100 hours on it solo/coop, and it's a game I can easily go back to time and time again to get some spooks and meet new people to be memey with.
All in all, fuck money-hungry publishers.
Thread has been relighted? Now the conversation continues even more.
This most recent pop-up of absolute bullshit where ATVI made over $2 billion in 2-3 months, yet are still firing people to "cut costs".
Braindead me: You know, I wonder what those people over at CoD actually do these days. They cant… Sees that article…never mind, it can get worse.
Honestly, I don't know what to make of any of that, but I'm sure it wouldn't be good anyways.
where we landing? not tilted! ッ
Gmod is the only game anyone will ever need. It's ten dollars and infinitely replayable.
oooh the wonderful sloogif!!!! the fogie!!! gahahahahahhqh!!!
Garys mod. As they say, old but gold!
where we landing? not tilted! ッ
(account deleted)Eh. It's not doing really well.
I mean, don't get me wrong. Everyone likes a good videogame. But nowadays, it's too hard to play a multi-player without having your experience messed up by a bunch of toxic peeps.
At this point, it's too hard to play videogames nicely. Apart of that, with NFTs and crypto stuff kicking into the videogame industry… Well. It's just repelling some people away.
That's when you retreat into heavily modded fallout 4
oooh the wonderful sloogif!!!! the fogie!!! gahahahahahhqh!!!
I wish New Vegas had the same quantity and variety of mods as Fallout 4.
I went back to playing NV after modding the living heck out of 4, which I had turned into, like, a lush jungle full of crazy neon baddies, but still not having any characters/factions/plot I cared about. NV didn't even have upgraded environment texture mods at the time.
New vegas mods's strength to me was writing, New Vegas bounties, Depths of depravity, the north road, are all examples of very well written and fun mods. Fallout four mods add new things that were missing, NV mods build on what's there.
oooh the wonderful sloogif!!!! the fogie!!! gahahahahahhqh!!!
To be honest video games depend on the person. For some people who love battle royals they hate the cartoon features of Fortnite and say it makes them feel like those games are gonna ruin gaming. For people like me (Average classics fan such as Roblox and Minecraft.) though I feel the gaming world is just fine. I do feel like Roblox is declining however. They are tryna force stuff on the community and it’s only a matter of time before they lose people and it dies. Like I made a trailer using their engine just to find out I can’t use their classic blocky characters and only their ugly as hell realistic ones. So I’m kind of stuck at the moment waiting to post it if I can ever use those characters, or if I have to just scrap those characters and make my own in blender. Kinda sucks.
/forum/t-14212377/your-opinions-on-the-current-state-of-gaming#post-
page revision: 2, last edited: 15 Jan 2023 15:06
