The Center Is Two

A Personal Blog of random things. Queer adult, there will be swearing and other adult things on this blog. Ko-fi | Redbubble | AO3

[centeris2]

reminder that I block and report blank blogs as bots, because you look like bots.

[centeris2]

sso hire me back as a proofreader

that's it that's the post.

I'm serious.

The last two quests updates, while overall cute and nice vibes going back to doing fun things for the residents of Jorvik, have been PAINFUL because of typos, grammatical errors, and odd phrasing. And it's not like "oh that quest line had one spot that had an accidental space before the period" it's multiple errors in the quest chain so I KEEP noticing errors and they're adding up. Sure, the story is fine, but did no one proofread? Do they not have anyone in the office anymore with time to take an hour to proofread quest text before it gets put into the game anymore?

Send it my way and a 10 hour contract, that'll be plenty of time for me to proofread a quest 5 times over and submit suggestions for better flow, characterization, and making things make sense (of course probably too late for the quest to change much by the proofreading stage, but, dang some things have not made sense. A pulley does not use the "lever effect" it's a pulley?? Not a lever??? What are you smoking Holly.)

[centeris2]

I could post the SSO update fanfic I wrote for the Major Story Update back in May (that I wrote the same day)

it wouldn't make a lick of sense to anyone because I skipped like 3 long fanfics worth of content

but I could. it'd be funny (to me, anyone who glances at it would be wildly confused)

[centeris2]

1 - make a public announcement then not just replies in an instagram post, cowards

2 - "her content didn't align with the values or interests of our community." So you're totally fine with it. Got it. I see you. You better not put in a single quest or character talking about protecting the environment or supporting hand made crafts or small businesses or natural products or anything like that, because those clearly aren't your values or interests anymore. This is the third time you guys have used or partnered with AI.

At least I don't have to bother with sending in a support ticket essay because instagram took care of that for me already, thank goodness.

[dorianwolfforest]

This isn’t even a “but… but they prommy’d not to use AI!!!” thing. That would be valid, but this is worse. The guy in charge of music at SSE already considered signing a contract with Dj AI’s company when the social media team made the statement that SSE would never use AI. He’d known since 2023. It wasn’t a broken promise, it was just a straight up lie.

[centeris2]

"oh oopsie some intern used AI art for our spotify page! it was a lowly employee making a mistake! we would never!"

How's the garden looking with all that manure you've got piled over there, SSE? Probably smells about as good as that candle you had AI come up with.

[centeris2]

do I write sso support a massive essay about why they're dumb for using AI or do I just

[feuer-bluete]

Fucking what? I was looking forward to playing again since I won't have access to my pc for the summer but my laptop can handle sso but if they use ai....

Please write them the massive email and sign it for all of ssoblr

[centeris2]

yeah they signed a "record deal" with a digital human called DJ Dex (aka AI)

The UK’s First Digital Human ‘DJ Dex’ Signs Record Deal with Star Stable Entertainment AB – A Groundbreaking Union of Music and Digital Inno

“I first encountered DJ Dex at Future Music Forum in Barcelona in 2023 and have been intrigued ever since,” said Jimmy Wahlsteen, Head of Music at Star Stable. “Dex’s collaborative approach with real producers and DJs, combined with her virtual identity, creates something uniquely engaging. Her sound is a blend of dance floor energy and emotional resonance that we know will resonate with our players. We’re excited to support Dex’s music career — from club tracks to live gigs.” As part of the agreement, DJ Dex’s upcoming music — including tracks titled Stay and Future Music — will be integrated into the Star Stable universe, available for streaming globally, and featured at Dex’s immersive live shows across Europe.

(just a snippet from the article)

[centeris2]

do I write sso support a massive essay about why they're dumb for using AI or do I just

[centeris2]

HAPPY DARK CORE DAY!

Like Garnok, I too wish I was asleep for eons at the moment.

(Is that even still the current lore, that Garnok is asleep and Dark Core is trying to wake him up? Or have they fully swapped over to just trying to 'free' him with no references to him sleeping anymore?)

I don't have anything else gotta be honest this year has been kicking my butt. I haven't even had a chance to queue stuff up from previous years I'll get to that after I sleep.

[the-tao-of-fandom]

The thing about golf as a sport is that there's like.... nothing Inherently evil about hitting a ball with a weird club. We've got several sports like that that DON'T require massive tracts of land kept mowed to within an inch of its life. To say nothing of the pesticides and water use.

Which is why I'm proposing Golf 2.0: Hard Mode! Where you just play Wherever, no high maintenance landscaping necessary. I want to see what kind of trick shots and weird modified clubs golfers can come up with if you need to get your ball out of knee-high grass and across a bog. Also you should bring back the all-plaid look. Give a lil boost to the Harris Tweed economy.

[the-tao-of-fandom]

In fact, why not go big. Golfing across highway intersections. Golfing through the windows of your neighbor's house. Golfing at night or in a blizzard. Hell, add some parkour to the mix. You don't get to enjoy the epic highs and lows of Extreme Golf if you aren't willing to committ vandalism and run from the cops. As nature intended

[centeris2]

We're getting there, have you heard of Fling Golf? It is still played on traditional golf courses, but given you are flinging the ball (at least until you get close to the hole) it could be a vital evolutionary mid point to Golf 2.0 Hard Mode due to the additional method to moving the ball, which would add versatility to trick shots.

Also it's hilarious watching people just yeet golf balls around, I randomly caught a competition on TV and I loved all the names for the different swing/sling styles. I'm sad I only remember the "trebuchet" launch. They also already have trickshot-esque Fling Golf competitions to show off the sport (also something I caught randomly on tv)

(Not that traditional golfing doesn't allow for some epic trick shots. But we can evolve. We can expand. We can fling. We can accidentally throw the golf ball and our clubs)

[centeris2]

June 11th Dark Core Day coming up fast

mark your calendars

[centeris2]

30 Days

Dark Core Day is June 11th, in a month, 30 days

I've been doing this for years you know what's up.

If you don't know what Dark Core Day is, it's one of the few dates specified from the original Starshine Legacy games (June 11th, 1890), dating when Deep Core (original Dark Core company name) was founded. Make something, post Dark Core stuff, take screenshots, whatever. It's for fun because it's funny

[centeris2]

Okay but what if for the championship seasons in SSO they made them more like the Trailblazers

What if they have bonus points (or double points, whatever) periods, like a week in the middle of the season and then the last week of the championship season bonus points? That'd be nice.

Also we've got a couple NPCs with champ dailies (I can not remember their names, one in Moorland and one in the Medieval area). They could give champ season points with their dailies, be the Championship season equivalent of the Trailblazer Daily Log In points.

[corinne-eaglebridge-sso]

Why does the new article give AI summary vibes... Like, I have no definitive proof, but after almost 10 years of reading the articles, I'd say I know the writing style pretty well, and this article just gives me some strange vibes. It's weirdly stilted imo?

To compare:

Trail of Embers (the new article)

Trail of Triumph article (the trailblazer track before this)

[centeris2]

Maybe they have someone different writing (or editing) the articles? I'm not sure who writes them (or edits), could easily be a job that gets kicked around. Nothing about it seemed off to me, and native english speakers regularly don't know the difference between active and passive voice. I didn't notice until I saw comments here, so non native speakers may also get fuzzy on that. Proofreading for people at work (not as an Editor, just a second set of eyes), I regularly explain active vs passive voice for announcements in emails, flyers, etc. (And I only have a solid grasp because of Latin hA)

It read to me like they are giving more details IN the article itself, possibly stretching out the article because the Trailblazer is the only thing happening this week. Fluff it with details so it looks longer, visually make it look like a 'normal' or 'big' update since there aren't multiple headers to give it the typical "this is happening AND this AND this ooo! So many things this update!"

But I'm operating on a few hours of sleep because of a late night sO.

(I wonder if they're listing how many gear items are in the track because there was speculation before that stuff was missing? Or that the phones in the winter (?) one were filler items that never got swapped out? I was happy to see how many gear items there were. 12 items is a full set for clothes and horse gear, isn't it? That sounds like enough items for a full set of clothes and tack, which will be nice after getting weird partial sets)

I'm sorry for rambling I get talkative when I'm this tired and low on sleep and I'm in for a loooong day

[windforestsso]

Yeah I dont see it as AI myself either. Nothing seem fake about it. Just word vometing thats bit annoying to read.

But it isnt a full set this time around btw. It two player outfits. No gear.

[centeris2]

aw what? Well as long as it's COMPLETE gear sets and not "here are matching pants and a hat, and a different matching shirt and gloves and shoes, and a third matching hat and sunglasses and shirt"

[corinne-eaglebridge-sso]

Why does the new article give AI summary vibes... Like, I have no definitive proof, but after almost 10 years of reading the articles, I'd say I know the writing style pretty well, and this article just gives me some strange vibes. It's weirdly stilted imo?

To compare:

Trail of Embers (the new article)

Trail of Triumph article (the trailblazer track before this)

[centeris2]

Maybe they have someone different writing (or editing) the articles? I'm not sure who writes them (or edits), could easily be a job that gets kicked around. Nothing about it seemed off to me, and native english speakers regularly don't know the difference between active and passive voice. I didn't notice until I saw comments here, so non native speakers may also get fuzzy on that. Proofreading for people at work (not as an Editor, just a second set of eyes), I regularly explain active vs passive voice for announcements in emails, flyers, etc. (And I only have a solid grasp because of Latin hA)

It read to me like they are giving more details IN the article itself, possibly stretching out the article because the Trailblazer is the only thing happening this week. Fluff it with details so it looks longer, visually make it look like a 'normal' or 'big' update since there aren't multiple headers to give it the typical "this is happening AND this AND this ooo! So many things this update!"

But I'm operating on a few hours of sleep because of a late night sO.

(I wonder if they're listing how many gear items are in the track because there was speculation before that stuff was missing? Or that the phones in the winter (?) one were filler items that never got swapped out? I was happy to see how many gear items there were. 12 items is a full set for clothes and horse gear, isn't it? That sounds like enough items for a full set of clothes and tack, which will be nice after getting weird partial sets)

I'm sorry for rambling I get talkative when I'm this tired and low on sleep and I'm in for a loooong day

[centeris2]

swedish/maybe any european sso folks plz explain

I'm tracking the SSO legal stuff and "limited time offers" is one of the issues, which in my brain means "can't offer things only for a limited time in game like the halloween horses only available for the halloween event, pressuring the player to buy star coins to buy the horses/gear during that 4 week window"

But they mean double star coin offers or when lifetime is 30% off. Which I guess are 'limited time' deals?

I'm from the USA. Sales, buy-one-get-one, coupons, discounts, etc are normal for me. Is that NOT a thing in Europe??? I genuinely do not understand what the confusion is over a company having a sale is, or why that's worth freaking out and clutching pearls over in the EU.

Someone please explain like I'm 5 I'm assuming I'm missing cultural context here.

[windforestsso]

Its because its for a kids game.

You not allowed to advertise purchases to children under 18 years. And your not allowed to encourage children to beg adults to buy things for them either.

Its a new law here as its seen as abusing childrens naivety to how money works.

Edit: Maybe SSO can find a loop-hole around the sales but if not they might need to get rid of the 'life-time' purchase and make the monthly payment higher to be able to keep the game up. They still allowed to offer free-coupons or the like that wont cost money.

[centeris2]

I understand they can't advertise to kids period. But I guess my confusion was the distinction between "can't advertise to children at all" and "can't offer limited time sales to 'pressure' purchases" since advertising a 50% star coins deal is still advertising to children, so the first issue. It just read to me like Europeans had never heard of a sale before which didn't make sense.

I guess it's the "predatory" angle? Rather than advertising to kids

And here I was wondering if this meant no more event gear or horses and wondering if this would impact the trailblazer or championship seasons because that was all "limited time" content. Probably not for the trailblazer and champ ranks, since that's not money, that's just playtime.

[hayden-potatolord]

ok so, i am by no means a legal person but i took a little dive into the European Commission statement regarding SSO (and boy aint that a weird thing to say) and i tried to make sense of what they are arguing here because it was the first I've heard of that particular point

keep in mind i am most likely not understanding all this correctly, my previous experience with European Commission papers is deciphering rules regarding animal welfare and food safety, a far cry from this, but I'll do my best

Ok so I'm just going to post some screenshots from the part about limited time offers cause i think they explain themselves very well

but well, tldr. kids seeing a "limited time offer" will be pressured by the fact that there is a deadline to make impulsive purchases out of fear of "missing out", this is both for things like 30% of lifetime (since you need a lifetime subscription to get a lot of the things they advertise), SC bundles (since you can use SC to get things immediately instead of grinding for it, unlike shillings and horse XP) or new and limited time horses (since they will be gone and often times has a very aggressive marketing surrounding them). It is proven that this kind of advertising works, it is after all one of the reasons it is used, but where adults can learn to recognize it for what it is kids will not have that experience or maturity, and therefore SSO is in trouble for using it at a game that is designed and marketed for kids

further in, they are also arguing that very few children are patient enough to wait x amount of weeks to get enough SC from the montly allowance to buy a new horse, or tack, or whatever, and therefore likely to be influenced to spend money to get SC quickly to be able to get the latest or limited time releases, bot of horses and tack/clothes/pets etc

they are talking about the bundles as well, both buying SC and SC with additional items, which is offered at times, and arguing that there is no actual real value of the SC that is quote unquote "fixed", making the value of an individual SC different depending on what bundle you buy, and incentivicing people to buy the bigger and more expensive bundles to get the best "price per SC", which is a good point and i have though about this a lot and how much i hate that particular fact

OK i have to go to bed, i got to 2.3.2. in the document if anyone wants me to i can try and go through the rest of the paper for the highlights tomorrow, but to sum it up, yes, we europeans know what a sale is. But I would rather ask you, do you know what a sale is? is it not a marketing technique to get more money from a consumer? And this is usually not a problem, until those consumers are kids that are protected by strict marketing laws, and that is why we are in this mess

[centeris2]

I gotta be honest because of how tumblr shows things the first thing I saw was your tags and you had me at "eagle endoscopy" and that is the ONLY thing I am interested in now I haven't even looked at your post I am just interested in the eagle now

Okay I have now read the actual post and WOW the articles my google alert sent my way did a terrible job covering what the investigation was actually diving into. So they DO have an issue with in game events, and marketing on instagram. Wonder why the articles I've been finding didn't mention the instagram marketing thing at all as an issue, that makes so much more sense than "people are confused by double star coin sales".

Time to read the rest of that pdf, thanks :D

[centeris2]

swedish/maybe any european sso folks plz explain

I'm tracking the SSO legal stuff and "limited time offers" is one of the issues, which in my brain means "can't offer things only for a limited time in game like the halloween horses only available for the halloween event, pressuring the player to buy star coins to buy the horses/gear during that 4 week window"

But they mean double star coin offers or when lifetime is 30% off. Which I guess are 'limited time' deals?

I'm from the USA. Sales, buy-one-get-one, coupons, discounts, etc are normal for me. Is that NOT a thing in Europe??? I genuinely do not understand what the confusion is over a company having a sale is, or why that's worth freaking out and clutching pearls over in the EU.

Someone please explain like I'm 5 I'm assuming I'm missing cultural context here.

[windforestsso]

Its because its for a kids game.

You not allowed to advertise purchases to children under 18 years. And your not allowed to encourage children to beg adults to buy things for them either.

Its a new law here as its seen as abusing childrens naivety to how money works.

Edit: Maybe SSO can find a loop-hole around the sales but if not they might need to get rid of the 'life-time' purchase and make the monthly payment higher to be able to keep the game up. They still allowed to offer free-coupons or the like that wont cost money.

[centeris2]

I understand they can't advertise to kids period. But I guess my confusion was the distinction between "can't advertise to children at all" and "can't offer limited time sales to 'pressure' purchases" since advertising a 50% star coins deal is still advertising to children, so the first issue. It just read to me like Europeans had never heard of a sale before which didn't make sense.

I guess it's the "predatory" angle? Rather than advertising to kids

And here I was wondering if this meant no more event gear or horses and wondering if this would impact the trailblazer or championship seasons because that was all "limited time" content. Probably not for the trailblazer and champ ranks, since that's not money, that's just playtime.

[centeris2]

swedish/maybe any european sso folks plz explain

I'm tracking the SSO legal stuff and "limited time offers" is one of the issues, which in my brain means "can't offer things only for a limited time in game like the halloween horses only available for the halloween event, pressuring the player to buy star coins to buy the horses/gear during that 4 week window"

But they mean double star coin offers or when lifetime is 30% off. Which I guess are 'limited time' deals?

I'm from the USA. Sales, buy-one-get-one, coupons, discounts, etc are normal for me. Is that NOT a thing in Europe??? I genuinely do not understand what the confusion is over a company having a sale is, or why that's worth freaking out and clutching pearls over in the EU.

Someone please explain like I'm 5 I'm assuming I'm missing cultural context here.