In the case of Oblivion Remastered (not the proper one, the Bethesda one) it seems closer to #2. It has very similar reviews to this screenshot. A lot of people were excited and happy to play it, but as time went on people found that the game was actually moderately bugged and has many progress breaking issues that the devs ignore. I’m assuming that Bethesda released this purely to undermine Skyblivion, but it’s clear which dev team cares about what they produce. Side note, the absolute scumbags charge £50 for it. A remaster should never be above £20

I feel the same about companies like Anker’s audio branch Soundcore using Kickstarter to prefund/advertise their new tech - safe to say their ‘projects’ are funded about 20,000%

Cats ate his face

Fucking terrorists

It’s 2025. Fascism and authoritarianism is on the rise in my country, leading my likeliness to become part of a localised resistance army, or a ‘terrorist’, to rise to 40%. Being a trans woman, I’m probably already considered a terrorist by some people.

I agree that ads can help people be aware of a product’s existence, but I believe, especially at this stage when I am tired of being spoonfed, that a more organic way is preferable. For example - forums, product reviews (REAL ones ofc), product storefronts including online marketplaces…

When someone needs something, they can go looking for it. A door that grates on a frame for example, may be talked about on a forum, which discusses the products others have found to help. In this case a mouse(shaped) sander. The person can then follow breadcrumbs to the most convenient store that sells it.

This is actually the way I find most things I need. The vast majority of products shown to me, passively on various items in the streets or in video format, are useless to me. Regarding VPNs, I first learned about them when I looked for a solution to a website article having an error page stating that it cannot be viewed in my country. Again when I pirated movies. Eventually I saw Mullvad mentioned on Reddit, when I entered more FOSS and Linux spaces

Ah I understand now, I was a little slow to get that the “loan” is the $700 and it won’t be repaid for a while… Damn. Well I hope the next update is a positive one! YMMV but I’ve learned that harassing customer service often works, by chasing it up with another email every few days to however often you can handle it

Here’s the thing. The reason ads are bad is because almost every single one is for a product that will exploit the user. Mullvad is a product that does the opposite. They ask for money, but don’t force it. They intend to give power of the user’s life back to the user. Thus, some ads are actually okay. Ads about VPNs, self hosted systems, anti-corporate anticapitalist services, software that is for you to use and only ever takes telemetry for software improvement, and then only if you consent first.

Hell, before this garbage, on TV the only ads were products and charities, and everybody grew really sick of the African child ads because its sole purpose was to exploit the viewer’s empathy and get their money. Same with now, except if it’s not money they want it’s data, and data is money to them.

Am a woman, have no clue what this is on about. My dick hasn’t been affected by summer

Body heat, however, is a different story. It’s definitely wider when hot and a skinny mf when cool. I therefore provisionally support this claim by the men

God I loved those disturbed Tom memes

Which god are we talking about? And which heaven! Definitely not Islamic, but one of the Hindu heavens? One of the Jewish ones maybe?

I’d say I’m English gay, so I’m far more reserved and inconspicuous than other cultures’ queers lol

Why the fuck would they replicate a Greek historical site, and then fill it with American paraphernalia

This building is no more than an imitation of the original.

This was allegedly “designed” by an American Confederate architect. No motherfucker it was designed by Ictinus and Callicrates.

Being a hateful and harmful individual, damaging society - the correct society - is a choice and one you don’t have to make.

Did you choose to pay with installments for the laptop, is that why they’ll get more money from you? For the privilege of not having the product…

Haha, America’s now got an abusive immature father. Gonna lash out at her siblings. Insane.

The GOP caused Al-Qaeda by killing the founder’s friends

Probably a contract deal rather than individual leasing, and business deals often include bulk discounts

On Voyager, popular mobile client, there’s this setting page (linking image because apparently there’s no space left on my instance’s storage):

Not to mention shut down everything the US has relied on for order. Bro is actually thinking of shutting down FEMA. wtf

Isn’t Border Patrol hated by everyone, including local police and real immigration officers (not ICE)