I don't think it's fair that you ignore pretty much the entirety of the 2000s where private servers were the default for gaming, with LAN parties being more a thing of the late 90s and early 2000s. Games like CS thrived on private servers, and the social ecosystem was fucking awesome because of it. It was a renaissance of gaming communities AND a thriving online modding community, with some mods actually becoming full blown games in and of themselves, like Killing Floor for example (and in tragic irony, the devs now don't support modding, but that's a different story).
Even now, private servers are still a thing, but they're a hollow shell of what they once were thanks to the insidious cancer of matchmaking and the mentality that helps promote.
You're thinking too far back, and forgetting that sweet spot that is more than still viable but is actively dis-incentivised by publishers and developers that seek that live service model.
Which is funny because as the OP alludes to, by the very nature of persistent private servers you can play with a pool of players that is mostly the same and actually learn to develop your teamwork through continued play.
That is a REALLY controversial take if you ask people who play warcraft these days
Two things. First, public servers have always been the default for MMOs, and by their nature it makes sense to have it. Only today did I learn about things like "realm shifting", and I find that even more cancerous. So there is some level of exemption that MMOs garner by their very nature.
Secondly, why would I care about people from "these days"? Most people "these days" are morons who either weren't playing back then, or they got used to the cancer and forgot how much better it used to be.
I have said it for a very long time, but public servers/matchmaking have been the single worst thing to have ever happened to online gaming, and I will die on this hill. Lootboxes, MTX, even pay-to-win is all irrelevant compared to the damage that matchmaking has done to the social structure of online multiplayer gaming. And that isn't to say that those things haven't done a lot of damage, but they're nothing compared to the damage matchmaking has caused.
I find I've got broad tastes too for the most part, and I always enjoy some Gunship to go with my Midnight. Definitely not the same, but definitely enjoyable.
That said, I did get to see The Midnight live earlier this year, and it was absolutely awesome. For what is usually more relaxing and chill, they brought the energy to really make it worth while for a live experience and dialled it up. And Vampires was awesome live. Would absolutely recommend if you get the chance.
The days of people actually associating advertisers with the content, unless it is actually sponsored (and not just advert roll), are long gone. They're not worried about extremist content.
At best, presuming that it's not malicious mass social manipulation (which it almost certainly is), they're worried about the audience. And worried isn't the right word, but rather they know that people who are invested in "extremist" content aren't interested in ads, and they're largely useless in selling a product through that method. It's a waste of money to pay for advertising on a platform that has people who are never going to buy your product because they're jaded. And that goes for any isle of "extremism", which is also the wrong word.
But it's all pointless because it's almost with 99.9% certainty that the reason is for mass social manipulation.
Every time one of these types talk about "black """culture"""" in any other culture, it should just be common practice to share those videos of the obnoxious black people in Japan and other countries being the most obnoxious assholes around.
Remember, black "culture" is built upon self-gratitude first and foremost. Think about what such a mentality that would bring.
Look up Domestic Violence Studies. Over the past 50 odd years, there have been hundreds that were suppressed because they didn't perpetuate the desired Narrative.
There is zero reason to wonder how many times it's happened, because it's happened a lot. Which is why I always laugh at people who say that conspiracies can't be true because there would be whistleblowers. The reality is that anything evil enough is too hard for most people to cope with so they instinctively go into denial to avoid coming to terms with it, or there actively are whistleblowers that are then immediately either ignored, called loony, or just taken for granted. Just take a look at Snowden and Assange. We've known of wide-spread corruption for decades, and nobody does anything. Because it's too difficult to accept that they've supported evil people all their lives.
There is always a better plan. And even if you still want to do that "manageable first cut" crap, you don't need 15 people. 3-4 would be more than enough for the distance of travel and it's not like carrying a log is particularly hard work.
It's not as efficient use as you've put forward, but it's still better than what they're currently doing while maintaining a level of cushy-ness that shouldn't be tolerated for what is essentially rescue/recovery work.
It's not new. It was already revealed many years ago. JournoList has been covered before and anyone surprised by the fact that media actively conspires with one another should probably be checked for serious mental deficiencies.
Just as the proliferation of Flat Earth and Fake Moon Landing theories by spooks is still being done to belittle and strawman those who question things like the JFK assassination, Waco, or 9/11 narratives,
I still believe with 100% conviction in the "Conspiracy Conspiracy", which is the deliberate sharing and proliferation of explicitly false conspiracy theories to help disguise, hide in plain site, or discredit other legitimate conspiracies that would otherwise easily and rightfully earn severe pushback.
And all he really is is "old man yelling at clouds".
Which really begs the question: Why? What point is there in going after Alex Jones if what he says is complete non-sense?
Maybe because there was no real advertising, virtually nobody knows about it, it's nearly exclusively trying to appeal to an American audience which makes it sure to flop internationally, and the most important factor of all: Nobody wants to see it. Nobody against Trump actually wants to watch his story, and nobody in favour of Trump wants to watch a hit piece. This movie appealed to nobody, so nobody saw it.
cultural appropriation
Once again, western absorbed liberals have no idea what culture actually is and instead exclusively focus on the most surface level, vapid markings. These are things like dress, food, dance, music, fashion, etc. These are relatively banal things. Interesting, sure, but hold no real cultural weight.
Meanwhile, when we get into the nitty gritty of culture and dig towards the core, we start to uncover actual cultural identity and value. These are things like familial structures, justice systems, traditions, moral interpretation, etc.
The reality is that leftists are entirely fine with cultural destruction and appropriation, so long as you leave the surface levels alone. It's by far some of the most ignorant and racist things that the left has continually engaged in for many, many decades.
Which is my biggest issue. I'd argue that horror media in general, especially franchises, are the most inconsistent, especially with monster capabilities/limitations.
And I will say, internal consistency can be a hard thing to achieve the longer a franchise goes on, but that's part of the charm of the franchise: the limitations which should breed creativity, not lazy ad hoc inconsistencies.
I generally prefer slow zombies, but consistency is more important.
Of course it won't be good. The point was that even if somehow against all odds they stumble into something good, the people behind it all are still very much pozzed and should be avoided on that basis alone.
I'm not even surprised this is the "defence" they're teaching. It's utterly stupid, and you'd think doctors would know about the dangers of knife wounds and would therefore try to keep their wrists away from a blade unlike the guy in this video that's making it incredibly easy to get his wrists slashed.
Obligatory since every time I see this reposted somewhere, someone will invariably bring up the reason for the image on the right.
Yes, that image is celebrating International Women's Day. No, there's a good chance that isn't the developers of GoY, though a portion are probably going to be involved.
The issue is that Sucker Punch felt the need to virtue signal on IWD. Would they do one on International Men's Day? Could they even point out what day that is?
The issue isn't the women per se, but it's the culture that felt the need to virtue signal. Maybe GoY will be fine. Maybe we'll all be proven wrong. But considering that Sucker Punch are also fine with taking part in a workshop that's exclusively for "girls and non-binary kids, ages 11 to 14", I think it's pretty clear that they're infested.
that she got a joke candidate elected president
Remember, the email leaks around her and Podesta included discussions with media outlets that explicitly told media outlets to focus on Trump because they thought he was a joke, and ignore candidates like Rand Paul and Ben Carson because they saw them as threats to minority and lower economic groups.
They didn't take Trump seriously, and it fucked them because Trump was actually personable compared to career politicians like Hillary.
How "alt history" are we going here? Still relatively realistic but just different historical events, or full blown fantasy as well? Because if it's the latter, there's the Grimnoir trilogy by Larry Correia. But it's very much alt history with outright magic. But the first book takes place in 1930.
His "activism" is to try and enact changes to stifle free speech. To bring about rules that will punish people other than himself.
It's because they want to see people like Johnny get in trouble. They don't support him, they support him getting in trouble. It's entertainment from another's suffering.
Think Chris Chan kinda, except the mental illness isn't as blatant or in-your-face.
That's because people that don't need government don't vote for more government over-reach.
I don't believe anyone meaningful was fired. He already did this shit before by moving people around while keeping them on payroll while knowing about the shit that was happening.
And that doesn't even get into the scams that his company as a whole engages in.