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Games for Windows September 2007

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Ufo Aftermath – autumn aliens and ufology, like science

So, it is some summer positive is going now. I play with weekend with my Atlas H376. And I even start to try some interesting games. I do not try them before. This is about aliens. UFO sausages. UFO theme. UFOids.

What also bothers me is that there seems to be no monthly plan this time. You have to either drop the $50 ($80 for family plan) immediately, or just not get it at all. The people saying, "If you don't like it, DON'T BUY IT OR COMPLAIN ABOUT IT!" are seemingly so brainwashed. It's kinda sad, seeing Nintendo being more upfront about their bad business practices (Which like you said, they've been doing for quite a while)

(Readers: This is a follow up to this post.)

In general, the people saying "if you don't like it, just don't buy it" are just people who want to avoid hearing complaints. Which, I mean, some people are like that, I guess. Negativity upsets them and they can't handle it or whatever, so they don't.

And some of them are, like you say, brainwashed. They want to keep living in their world where their favorite corporation can be their favorite forever without them having to confront the fact that not everybody is happy.

The thing that gets me about "if you don't like it, just don't buy it" is that it's honestly kind of pointless. Corporations like Nintendo, or Electronic Arts, or Ubisoft have well-paid marketing departments that spend millions of dollars on advertising campaigns. They are here to sell you a ketchup popsicle. They make you get a product whether you need it or not.

It's that one image, right, back when Modern Warfare 2 was dropping custom, player-run dedicated servers. There was going to be this big boycott, a whole Steam group was created, and on launch day more than half the people in the boycott group were playing Modern Warfare 2.

The entire reason these marketing teams are so highly paid is because it is their job to make you want the thing. And... most people are weak. It doesn't take much pushing to get someone to break on this kind of issue. When you say, "We're all going to boycott this bad thing," you're some unpaid rando versus what is probably a team of industry professionals with decades of combined experience in making you want the thing.

That doesn't mean it's hopeless, like these guys aren't invincible, but it's a lot harder than "vote with your wallets."

I mean, Microsoft got away with it with Xbox Live Gold. Few-to-none of the features offered by Xbox Live Gold actually needed to cost money, but Microsoft forced it on people until they accepted it. They also tried to do a "Games for Windows Live Gold" on PC once, and it fell flat on its face! None of the competition on PC charged money for those features, because they weren't expensive features to have in games. When it came to Xbox Live Gold, we were told to "vote with our wallets" then too, and it did not matter. On an Xbox, Microsoft gets to write and enforce the rules, so Xbox Live Gold solidified as the standard for the industry.

"Shut up and vote with your wallet" is mostly an empty platitude from people that don't like to hear complaining. On the other hand, "squeaky wheel gets the grease" is a tried and proven tactic. So, by all means, if it makes you mad, get loud!