January 24, 2022 · 21:55

Gaining an advantage

So, In continuation of yesterday I was contemplating how we can offer an in game advantage. And as I was considering this my mind took a step backwards, towards the golden oldies Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Lawrence Ellison (lol), and an idea came to mind. What if some of the attainments of the game was a wink to these golden oldies? For example, when hunting the undead we have the option to find a comic, a book and a dvd? In that case we get

Dracula Comic, Dracula (Bram Stoker), Dracula (Bela Lugosi)
The Walking dead, World War Z (Max Brooks), White Zombie (Bela Lugosi)
Ghoul Tails, Ghoul (Brian Keene), The Ghoul (Bela Lugosi)

In this, if you find the three DVD’s, you get a 10% against ALL undead demons, more important, you get another 10% if you find all 9 elements. 

There is more that can be done, for example set a database of 250 elements, so you cannot get them all in one play-through and there some random element, but if you start. New game any of the elements (comic, book, DVD) that has not been used will be used first. I thought it was a nice gesture, we take ourselves too serious and let’s face it a lot of games go back to books or movies, so it makes sene to bow to these greats in the form of a wink. History has its place and should not be forgotten.

There is a part where I am in doubt on the IP, but if possible, if all elements are found in a category, the music will change towards a Lugosi version of undead encounters. You see, the problem is that music tends to become tedious, so adding spice to it, optionally taking a page out of the Fur Fighters approach so that each character has its own instruments towards the same tune will also spice things up. You see this is no longer the world of Forbidden Forest (CBM-64), so adding effort in keeping the masses well entertained is essential for any game. Too many people seem to forget that. 

There is even the idea that if you find all the characters in a category (not an option within one play-through) So when we get all the vampires Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Klaus Kinski and Frank Langela, we get to play a New++ game, it is like a NEW+ game, but the opposition is a lot stronger, more important it is not just the undead, the zombies, or ghouls. There are Witches, Warlocks, Priests and a whole range of demonic classes and that is before you get to the Ifrit and Jinn. All challenges to be met, all ways to deliver to an embossed game that satisfy a lot longer than some other games do. Diablo met that challenge brilliantly and to find a unique alternative is quite the challenge, but it is clear that Microsoft is playing a game, a game with gamers for its greedy needs and as such the playing field on Sony, Amazon Luna and Google Stadia is now wide open and they are all ready to take market share away from Microsoft. Are you ready to make that market share yours?

Good luck!

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January 23, 2022 · 18:07

As I slice and dice

Yes, if you are a Microsoft lover and you thought the previous article named ‘In the beginning’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2022/01/21/in-the-beginning/) was all there is you are in bad luck. I needed time to get the next part in chime. You see, the antagonists are important, but so it the way we deal with them. Weapons matter (in all kinds of occasions) as such I wanted a new setting, not some Diablo copy and it helps setting up the gaming IP, the more unique an IP is, the easier it is to get a nice exclusive IP for Amazon and Sony. 

So in this setting I wanted a whole new direction. A direction that we seemingly forgot about. In the first setting we start with a dagger. The dagger can be imbued (needs to be) to be a more efficient weapon against a major demon class, and as we upgrade it from level one all the way to level 4, the weapon will get a whole lot more powerful. Yet there are also gradients here. I wanted to set the first level to 5 demons, so 5 demons will have to shed something, or we cut it out of them and in level 2 we need more, there is an idea to get 5-25-30-55. I also wanted to reward tenacity, so if you go in one stretch, the cost would be a little higher, but you can go from 5 in level one to 35 to level 4 and skip levels 2 and 3. It is but a simple thought and it ups the gameplay too. 

You make money by selling items and I wanted to avoid to a larger degree chests (not completely), so the kills will give you items that you can sell and in that premise the alchemists will be more important. So this is the first demon class. What about the second demon class?

In this I thought that upgrading a level 4 dagger to a level 0 Dirk might be an idea. 

As such we get the balance of Dagger – Dirk – Short-sword, and after that we need a second weapon. 

I am still considering versions of a morning star, a roman Pilum and a few other weapons, yet in the end, you will have 2-3 weapons, so there are two parts, you need two weapons and you need to think strategically, which Diablo took from the equation (it never really had any clear strategy). As such we have a new environment, we have different enemies and we have the need for different skills. I personally believed that support skills were where it was at. Healing, tracking and vision skills are the path to nice powers that aid in the challenge to finish the game. More important, as each level (area) is better cleared, the towns will open up more stores and more options. 

There is a secondary need to set the stage in a few more ways, in one part as I hate linearity, in the second part if we have more challenges the game would end up getting a much wider acceptance. I want to create a game that honours Diablo, not copy it. Diablo was a game I loved forever ever since the first one came out in 1997, there was Diablo 2 and Diablo 3 broke the mould, so I want to honour it, not copy it. We honour what we love, and I am merely making sure that Microsoft learns the hard way what a total of 68,000,000,000 can cost them. Especially when independent designers use my ideas for free mind you, and only when it is for Sony and Amazon Luna releases. Even if little old me can make sure that Microsoft realise that there is a larger station outside Microsoft, it would have been worth it. Like I stated in the previous article, Microsoft can only win if there is a dartboard and I fail to hit 180 points 470 times, only then would they optionally win, and I have a few more ideas coming. So take notice of this new approach to weapons and I will also give an alternative consideration to armour. In the first there is the idea that leather and pelts make for much stronger protection, in the second I would want to set the stage that imbued metal in the armour would hurt them, but that comes at a price as it would only protect against one major class and two minor classes attached to the major class (see previous article), you see we cannot make it too easy and as you might want to get all protective at the first class, the larger station is that you can never protect against all (a military certainty discussed by Julius Caesar at length). And we must respect the classics, should we not?

So here is the idea of weapons and a little about armour. I will try to come back soon and give you the larger setting of the environment and how levels are set, you can figure out how to program it, I will not do all your work, but the ideas might help set the station, so good Luck and may the one using this find and gain great fortune (and piss of Microsoft in the process).

Enjoy the day!

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January 22, 2022 · 19:36

What’s a tool?

There are all kinds of tools. There are chisels (used by Carpenters), there are hammers and they are used by all kinds of people in all kinds of endeavours. So let’s invert that question, what is a political tool, and who is representing them? From my point of view the media-man is becoming evermore the political tool, the man now more openly then before mis representing the events, so that the people will not look to deep into the matter at hand.

These were thoughts forming as I looked at the article at (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-60092458) 2 hours ago. There we are given ‘UN condemns deadly air strike on Yemen prison’. The news we are given gives us “a stronghold of the rebel Houthi movement in north-western Yemen, was hit on Friday”, that one line. After that we get “Millions have been displaced and much of the population stands on the brink of famine.” From my point of view, people in Yemen have been on the brink of famine for three years now, in massive part by Houthi forces. Then we get “US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also called for de-escalation”, I could continue stating that the man is an idiot, but that part will be clear soon enough (in this article). We are given “Houthis carried out a rare drone and missile attack on the UAE on Monday” here we see the word ‘rare’ added, the reason is seemingly clear, but I will inform you a little further down. We also see “the first deadly attack of its kind in the emirates”

So what are we not told?
In the first, 4 weeks ago Saudi spokesperson Turki Al-Maliki gave us (via Arab News) evidence that both Hezbollah and Iran were involved in the Yemeni war. None of the western media covered that, why not? We see one sided attacks on the activities by Saudi Arabia and its allies, all whilst no one, not even the UN is holding Houthi forces to clear account. This is more than just annoying, it is the beginning of media corruption and as I personally see it, the BBC is not innocent, it has not been innocent since Martin Bashir, that journalist that got the Princess of Wales killed.

So moving on, we also get ‘F-15 destroys two ballistic missile in Sanaa’ (source: Saudi Gazette), again the western media gives us nothing. Now, if there was opposition, contra-dictionary evidence and it was mentioned, it could be regarded as an optional issue, but it is silenced by nearly all. That is the part that does not add up, yet I promised more.

The final part of all this is not seen in Yemen, it is seen in the Guardian (I reported on it yesterday). The Grenfell situation, the Guardian gave it and only something called MyLondon seems to have mentioned it, no BBC, No Express, No Daily Mail, No Times. You still think that the media is innocent? I talked about it in ‘Is there a difference?’ On January 21st. You think the media needs that much time to assess their thoughts? One sided reporting is becoming the norm, not the exception and that is more than sad, it is right out dangerous. The greed driven media is all about their digital dollars and in that process we are not given the information that we should be getting. Is there any doubt that the final hours of media will soon be coming? Remember all these crying editors claiming that they could police themselves in the Leveson report? So what is left of them at this point?

So back to the Saudi Gazette. How do Yemeni’s get ballistic missiles? They cannot create them, they have no means of manufacturing. They have no resources for ballistic missiles. This is a clear setting that the Houthis are getting supplies,. So as I personally see it that idiot Antony Blinken should have been informed by the CIA, so either he is setting a filter to NOT get that part, or the CIA has become a lot more incompetent. I will let you judge was is happening there. But there has been clear evidence for over two years that Iran is directly supporting Houthi forces and the media will not tell you, so why not? So what makes a tool a tool? When the media decides not to tell you, who do they serve? You better believe that this is not about you, this is about stakeholders and profiteering. That is how I see it, because if someone keeps us in the dark it tends to be about the opportunity of others and that tends to hold a price tag. So one final nice part about that piece. No journalist set his or her name to that article, interesting, not?

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January 21, 2022 · 22:40

In the beginning

It is not a new line, it has been used so many times, but it is a decent start to any story. As I was contemplating yesterday’s story and yesterday’s actions, my mind wandered al over the field. You see creating a hero is easy, you look in the mirror and you have a (delusional) hero. You see, it is the antagonists that shape the story. Would Hercules be anyone if his deed was stopping bullies in a bar? Would the bowie knife existed if it was tasted on vagrants? Nope, we need antagonists!

So I wanted to create something new, yet there are only so many antagonists you can create, gaming has existed for decades, people have used nearly all the antagonists that myth, folklore and history allows for. So we need a new setting of a story. And then it hit me, what if (a setting I personally believe in) the enemy is all around us, we start in a place with one enemy, but from there, then what? That is the only weakness that Diablo has, the story is set to some degree and then we see that our powers are created because we know what comes. So what happens when we take that away?

So consider the pentagram above (a coincidence, honestly), We see the 5 points (A-E) when you start a new game, Demon class A is the first one you meet, you will gain powers from killing that demon, but there is no way telling what class it is, it might be vampire, it might be a ghoul, Incubi, Ifrit, there are too many to name, but that makes the setting fun. As you kill more of that kind your power in point A rises, so at some point you will encounter a new demon. Killing the first one is a challenge, but like Demon A you gain the ability to kill it easier. Now the hard part, the small points are not assigned, If demon A is coded blue, and the second demon is Red, then whoever you meet is assigned purple will be easier to kill, but you will have a max of 50% advantage (can’t make it too easy) and every game the wheel changes, every game will be a new challenge, you can (to some degree) consider the main points, but the minor points cannot be determined until you face them. A setting that (as far as I know) Blizzard never considered and now I have come up with a new challenge. And every game will have up to 8 main types, so against 3 of them you will have to fight for your life. to a smaller degree with minor classes too. And with up to 25 main classes and 30 minor classes, there will be new and unique playthroughs for some tyme to come (spicy enough for you).

This is merely the antagonists. There is more, towns will need to be created and they all have a smith (weapons) an attacked armour maker, and inn (food and drink). And as we see these elements evolve we get a better handle on who and what to kill. A setting that has been done before but not to this degree. So Microsoft spend billions on goods, and I countered the first move (free for Sony and Amazon developers). So consider how angry gamers will become and create your own fortune, let’s show Microsoft not to mess with gamers through their sanctimonious BS. So there is a lot more to do, but consider that we have a larger population dedicated to keep the quality of gaming high.

Enjoy the weekend!

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January 21, 2022 · 00:32

Is there a difference?

That is the question that overcame me. I was considering a new IP on gaming and it is actually going well, but about that soon. Leave it to me to create a Blizzard contender but now as public domain (for Sony and Amazon). And I do need a hobby so it might as well be sawing the chair-legs away from the Microsoft board of directors. Anyway, as I was contemplating a new path in IP, the Guardian gives us (at https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jan/20/tower-twice-grenfell-height-planned-single-staircase-urw) with the title ‘Tower twice Grenfell’s height planned nearby with single staircase’, so the initial example on June 14th 2017 was not enough, construction and architectural companies in the UK as vying for the title of who can kill the surplus population the fastest. A few small details, the Grenfell tower was 67 metres high and became a coffin for 72 people. Now we see that the mistake is overtaken by to buildings, one of 130 metres, one 174 metres and again the singular stairs. I reckon that cladding will not be a problem either, there are always ways to avoid cost overruns. So when we are given “A planning application for a 51-storey residential tower in Docklands with one fire escape has been paused after a safety outcry”, my initial thought was “At what point will Mayor of London Sadiq Khan wake the fuck up?”. Not only was once not enough, we now see two plans, one in Docklands and one close to Grenfell, so the people will not see this nightmare, once, they optionally (if they are lucky) see it twice, what a joy greed makes!

So when the guardian treats us to “Grenfell United, a group representing the survivors and bereaved, said: “After half a decade of campaigning for safer homes, it’s shocking to hear that a new tower block, a stone’s throw from Grenfell, rigged with a fire safety defect before it’s even been built, is being planned.” It considers a single staircase inadequate for use by residents and firefighters if an evacuation is needed, even though it is allowable under building regulations.” I am left with the cornerstones.

  1. Why is this still allowed under building regulations?
  2. Why did the Guardian and Grenfell United need to bring this to the people attention?
  3. What on earth is the Mayor of London doing by allowing this targeted killing of London citizens under his watch?

You think that point 3 is overreaching? Consider the Guardian, yes I have had disagreements with them, yet they are giving us a while places like the BBC people (and others too) seemingly have nothing. So at what point will the BBC wake up, when will the larger news take this up and asks loudly the serious questions that should be asked? 

I know, only 72 died, London has roughly 9,000,000 people, so it is nothing. If this upsets you excellent! You see, we saw all the trial shenanigans. Now consider the video (from a firefighter) that some might have seen (at https://youtu.be/QM4RJE81fh4) and now consider and wonder how these two plans were set in motion, moreover we get to hear “a 51-storey residential tower in Docklands with one fire escape has been paused after a safety outcry” at what point will you consider ‘has been paused after a safety outcry’. This required an outcry? This was not stopped from the moment the plans were submitted? It would have been long before the people and in particular Grenfell United would have been aware. 

So when we see the video with the response from a firefighter ‘How is that even possible?” and now the Guardian informs us that two more apartment buildings, buildings that are even higher are planned, I reckon that a lot of people want to know who is at the helm of these folly pieces and a list of civil servants that are seemingly asleep at the wheel of city governance, because as I personally see it heads will roll on this one. So we might be drawn by “as some safety experts call current staircase rules ‘madness’”, I would be much more interested on the setting that someone signed off on this, because we see “has been paused”, this implies that someone gave the signal to go ahead on this, or not?

So when the Guardian gives us “as part of a complex of 1,760 new homes being planned by the owner of the Westfield shopping centre in west London.” I merely wonder if that Westfield complex has an undertaker on the spot, because for them business will be booming with up to 3,500-4,000 new customers soon enough. You think I am too blunt? Consider that being soft seemingly did nothing and the fact that someone was optionally willing to repeat the 72 deaths with up to 4,000 souls for bartering in a second attempt. I believe we need a sledgehammer, not the subtlety of tweezers. We did that in 2017 and it seemingly led nowhere. So as the Guardian gives us “but it will rely on the same “stay put” strategy that failed on 14 June 2017 contributing to deaths, according to planning documents.” I feel anger, but mostly because there is some logic in the ‘stay put’ setting, yet it cannot be denied that is failed completely in Grenfell, so why were ALL London building plans not stopped to investigate the logical sanity of that procedure? And moreover, why is that setting as well as the conclusions of that not in EVERY newspaper in the Commonwealth? 

I will let you ponder on this whilst I continue on the idea that gives Blizzard a run for their money, mostly it is me having a go at Microsoft for buying an ice-cream cone for $37,000,000,000 whilst the supermarket 253.4 meters away sells them by the bucket for $50,000,000. It is only a mere factor of 740, and if I get a decent result on my first attempt Microsoft stock would go straight to the basement, and that is before they get a clue on the other issues that Activision might give them, which makes my attempt a lot easier. Ah well, I hope to give you the news soon. 

When a hobby give that much satisfaction, it is almost criminal to be on an income (I would still take it), and the better case for laughter is that one in 740 implies that statistics would fall towards me no matter how it goes. Consider a dartboard. How many darts will it take for you to throw 180? Microsoft can only win if I fail 740 times any success hit sooner becomes a massive cost for them. And there is the rub, only if I fail more than 740 times will Microsoft win, now you try on a dartboard and see how many times it took you to get 180. That is the folly Microsoft started and I am about to rain the size of a blizzard on their parade. Life can be fun and rewarding at times, unless you live in an apartment building in London.

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January 20, 2022 · 07:18

Supporting Sony and Amazon

There is a time when it is not about the dough (aka money), there is a time when it is about the principle of protecting the game and the gamer. And when it is supported by a civic duty to kick Microsoft in the mouth (for civic duty and personal pleasure) the money issue does not add up to much. You see, we can toss and turn over. Few coins now, but when gaming is slaughtered by Microsoft, what does that add up to in the end? 

So in support of what I wrote yesterday in ‘At it again’ I have decided that all gaming idea’s on my site are now free to use for both Sony and Amazon. I do hope that they will give me a bonus if the 50,000,000 consoles for Amazon becomes a reality, but that is not out of bounds is it? So I already created the foundation of an entirely new RPG (as I wrote earlier), so now I need to come up with an idea for something to counter Blizzard. I reckon that the Activision problem will solve itself soon enough.

This is seen in a few articles like ‘CoD Vanguard players expose ‘pay to win’ Double Barrel Blueprint after nerfs’, as well as ‘Call of Duty Acknowledges Problems With Warzone and Vanguard’, a setting that shows that with “The publisher released a statement on the official Call of Duty Twitter account, acknowledging the struggles these games have had, and its intention to move things in the right direction. Activision plans to fix as many of these issues as quickly as it can”, this indicates that the troubles brewing are not resolved, more important, they have been going on for some time and that tends to be disastrous. Even as game makers ‘hide’ behind ‘best selling in the US’ we see another flavour of “most powerful console”, which was done away easily enough by Nintendo and its “weakest of all consoles” to bash it, surpass it in sales in almost half the time. Now with Microsoft buying software houses for a total of $37,000,000,000 (most of it for Blizzard and Activision), we are introduced to “The bigger worry is that Sony is no match against its far-larger rival as gamers look beyond consoles” (source: Reuters), yet but the statement is not correctly given, is it? With “as gamers look beyond consoles”, we see the article catering to Microsoft and its advertisement budget, but the truth is that gamers always look beyond consoles, they look for the best gaming experience and so far Microsoft has disappointed too much and too often, as did Ubisoft, as did a few others. Looking beyond consoles makes sense, there is a case for both the Google Stadia and Amazon Luna, but Google does not develop games. As such the Amazon Luna has the better advantage and handing them (as well as Sony) free access to my IP works for me as a gamer and works for gamers in total. And I have always been protective of gamers. Not to mention that there is a surprisingly satisfying feeling if my RPG idea gains traction, when Microsoft Paid $7,500,000,000 for Bethesda, only to see that Sony and Amazon can bring a new competitive RPG at a fraction of the cost, not to mention the undisclosed option for Amazon to sell an additional 50,000,000 (or more) consoles on an idea Microsoft never saw coming in the first place. The idea to surpass Microsoft left, right and centre on their shortsightedness is massively satisfying and as I am considering now a Diablo like game where the stage is a combined Gauntlet like game, as well as a first person action slice and dice game, we see (in the earliest stage) that they got an additional lemon at $27,000,000,000. A stage that makes me laugh. Microsoft has the ‘lets throw money against the shortcomings we have’ and I countered it by handing over IP to Sony and Amazon that is new, fresh and optionally grows to be the equal of what they paid for at top dollar. It might not make me rich (never a priority to me), but I can fall asleep with the biggest grin knowing I pulled the carpet from under the feet of one of the biggest software companies on the planet. 

So when we look at “Microsoft will be looking to gradually lure PlayStation gamers to its own console with new content down the line.” We see subterfuge. And I feel 98.3245% certain (roughly) that my creativity can trump their subterfuge. So when we see the two parts namely “the huge bet on Activision signals the company is serious about building a virtual world beyond a console or device”, as well as “Sony is doubling down on games exclusive to PlayStation. It may have the air of a David and Goliath match-up, but Microsoft looks to be on a whole other level.” We see the courtesan move towards advertisement. Consoles have for the longest time aimed for exclusives, the Sony exclusives have proven to be exquisite masterpieces again and again. You see, THEY might tell you that gamers want “a virtual world beyond a console or device”, yet it is not gaming, it is a world of cheats, cheating and hacks and in that world there is a larger benefit for the maker to set the ‘pay to win’ environment by selling weapons and other micro transactions to fill the war-chest of its board of directors. At some point (sooner than anyone expects) the gamer will have had enough and dump these games. With the Sony games, with gaming on a console, the only cheat you get is on yourself.  But that part will not make the media, will it? Gamers will too often feel the need to chill and play the story, enjoy the world they are in, a setting that the Microsoft games will not offer. They will make lofty promises like “Activision has announced the worst punishment yet. In short, if you’re caught cheating in Call of Duty: Vanguard, you can be banned from every CoD game in the franchise.” A statement made in
November 2021. This in response to “Numerous players reported running into blatant cheaters on Vanguard on the very first day of the release.” And no one is asking the question why cheating was made so easy, so easy that it was ready on the first day of release. But I cannot find any media asking that part, and then the response ‘you can be banned’, not ‘you will be banned’, a subtle but unmistakingly difference that they are considering action, not promising that action will be taken and when the gamers get a few more of those issues, they will walk away. A good spending of 27 billion. So whilst we cannot deny that there will be a desire for virtual world combat, until you deal with the cheaters that world will be as appealing as a tax form. In this with the cheater active from day one, it seems to me that a lot more fixing is required. Darn and I was having so much fun surpassing Microsoft with creativity, all whilst common sense might defeat them before that. Because in the end it will be common sense. The common sense that gamers want to have fun, they want to exchange blows on an honest field so that s gamers they feel enabled and the last time I checked in a game filed with cheaters no one feels enabled, merely insulted and attacked on a false premise. 

So I do not disagree with Reuters on “Microsoft looks to be on a whole other level”, especially when that is set to the stage that the Microsoft level is an inferior one. Now, you are free to disagree, but consider if you go into a virtual world and there are a dozen cheaters waiting for you, how much fun will you have as a gamer? Not that much I reckon.

Enjoy the day! I am going to mull the new Diablo station a little more, the idea is taking form, but I do know it will not be easy to offer a Diablo alternative, that franchise is a really solid one. 

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January 19, 2022 · 07:16

At it again

Yes, Microsoft is at it again. This time it is costing them $68,000,000,000 for the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Associated Press released that information an hour ago (at https://apnews.com/article/microsoft-activision-blizzard-acquisition-call-of-duty-7a9e2bcc8f0b7b9049e4f93fe3e0a4dd). There we see “The all-cash $68.7 billion deal will turn Microsoft, maker of the Xbox gaming system, into one of the world’s largest video game companies. It will also help it compete with tech rivals such as Meta, formerly Facebook, in creating immersive virtual worlds for both work and play.” Yet what we do not see is the one Blizzard element missing, Diablo. We get “strengthen the company’s culture and accelerate business growth.” Yet I feel that there is a large need to upset fan bases and move them from the Sony path into the Microsoft path. It is a clever tactic, but not at 68 billion, there is more and I get the stage, there will be more even though the ‘META’ references do fit to some degree. 

The danger is seen in the smallest quote. I believe that ‘the world’s largest video game company’ is part of the stage and it is part of the need for Microsoft. We forget that the revenue of Candy Crush is huge and it is not merely the value of that revenue, it is the number of people generating that revenue that matters. You see these numbers are also a marketing drive and therefor a stage of doubling revenue. We think that advertisement are the key and for some they are to a degree, but what happens when the pay system becomes a marketing tool for verifiable information? We think it is assumption and presumption and for most it is, but when that data is verified with pay-cycles that game changes. And when we consider “the latest acquisitions will help beef up its Xbox Game Pass game subscription service while also accelerating its ambitions for the metaverse, a collection of virtual worlds designed as a next generation of the internet” we see a few things between the lines. In the first there is the subscription (Game Pass), so when all these games fall under subscription the game changes, the system will set a larger approval for THEIR streaming solution. It foes not impact my 50,000,000, but it does change the balance of the gaming community. When the larger battle stations involve ONLY Game Pass, but passes over Sony’s head there is added revenue. It is a brilliant tactic and it is specific. Microsoft alls it the move toward Meta. I do not doubt that, but this time it is not enough, for 68 billion it cannot just be for Meta, Meta is the side effect as I saw it in at least one other setting. Yet to united gamers all under YOUR banner whilst leaving Nintendo and Sony out in the cold is about something more, it will be to set up virtual machines on those two so that we see a Nintendo logo, but we are still connected to a Microsoft virtual machine. I believe it is a dangerous move because gaming was kept at an all time high as vendors had to be clever to get the attention of gamers, Microsoft is taking away choice, as such taking way vetting of the best gaming solution and as such limiting the choice to one and from there our choices will become ever so limited again and again until all choice is removed, then it is what Microsoft says what it is and that is what it would be. 

In gaming diversity of game makers gives us the goods, the Microsoft method does not fit in, and with Diablo optionally removed from at least one system, I will have to come up with new IP to counter the move of Microsoft. It is a hard call but I am willing to set that to Public Domain, just to piss of Microsoft (as good a reason as any). 

I truly believe there is more to it all, yet I am not certain if we will hear it in time, no matter what there is more to this and Nintendo with 26,000,000 subscribers and over 93,000,000 Nintendo Switch systems sold, 104,000,000 active Sony users (PS4/PS5/vita) Microsoft is setting up a system to entice close to 200,000,000 people to come over. And when you consider the $14,95 a month, we see setting where they stand to gain $36,000,000,000 annually, if that goes well and that is 52% of the investment right there. They will not get all, but a chunk makes it all worth it and Microsoft had the money. They are vying to become the only remaining system with choices on the market, that tactic makes sense. How will gamers react? I reckon there will be anger, because the system that sets diversity to null is not a system we can ever trust, that has been proven more than once. 

And yes there is a meta fragment in there too and when Microsoft comes to the table with such a user group they do become the most formidable gaming community, there is no denying that, but at what cost? That will the larger game that is kept hidden from us all, because a player like Microsoft will not tolerate the negative side to gain traction, it would be working against them to the largest degree. I wonder who will keep us truly informed, I truly do.

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January 18, 2022 · 22:31

Evolution

We all see it, we all face it and it is programs, games and many other settings. Evolution is where it is at (at times). Take management survival. One of the best games ever made is Fallout Shelter. I even came up with some ‘improvements’ (read: additions) that could bank Bethesda (now: Microsoft) a few more coins, not that it was needed, as the game was free and I think they made more money on the microtransactions than any of there other games. There is no envy, there is no anger. The game can be played without ever spending a dime, so whatever they made, they earned it, no exception.

And now as we see all these fallout copies (to some effect) in many cases they are Zombie apocalypse games, we see another setting. A setting where Bethesda has the option to evolve their game into a larger game. I entered in my blog somewhere in the past a few additions (or improvements), but now I see that there is more to be done. 

It can show in a few ways. In the first there are additional support rooms, rooms that give added returns on rooms. There is the setting where localisation becomes an issue. For example a fallout shelter in Canada, Norway, Sweden, or Siberia has a much better return on water via snow. Yet food will be better in temperate settings and the tropics and loads of sun has power benefit. So what happens when you get no choice in the location, but it is handed to you. You need to seek more information and then we get a new location, a library. A library can offer a new book, common, rare or legendary. Each book has the ability to create a support room, or upgrade a support room. It now becomes a much more rewarding and harder game, especially long term. Especially when rooms have to be redone to accommodate for support rooms, with the larger station where we see that some rooms would need to be at the upper level the game changes. It changes a decent amount. Some support rooms are more delicate when it comes to attacks, so more repairs are needed over time. For example a wind support room for a power station. A snow capture room for water and a trap room for animal attacks giving more food. 

All kinds of additions that are possible and that was before the other additions I suggested (somewhere in the past). So why do it? I believe that some of the rip offs are nice, but they are nowhere as close to perfect as Fallout Shelter was. Even with all the critique of ‘lack of depth’, which is not untrue. The game offered more play than many games that are not free. And play is where it is at and this game delivered. There are fun parts, less fun parts, but overall a good game to play and even when you drop the game, you can pick it up a year later reliving the fun you had. It is one of the few games that I have had on nearly every platform available. That shows the game has appeal on many platforms. Bethesda showed colours and the colours were vibrants and appealing. They earned what they got and if a new idea helps them to maintain the game into new generations then I will happily oblige, because if the game offers true gameplay we all win.

There could be another room, a pet-store keeper, allowing the upgrade of animals, a weapon support room, giving in the first level a weapon for less resources, or return a weapon for more resources in the second level an upgrade to add to the weapon in the third level. It changes a few items and it has an impact, the same could be done for armour, with the a different setting, making some armour gender neutral. We can come up with all kinds of changes, but when we consider the stage where we are in a northern nation, warm armour becomes a lot more important. All stage that can be added to a game and it changes us from chasing a goal to enjoy and emerge in a game. You see when the game is too vanilla, we all see the same path, when we are in different locations the same path cannot apply and it gets people talking. It is merely one path of evolution that we see and optionally one we face, but what happens when we try to conquer what we did so easily before? We add to the challenge and create a new generation of fans, that is what I personally believe and I have seen similar paths in Eye of the Beholder and Ultima (4-7) to name just two franchises, there are scores and we all have the one we treasure the most, so what happens when you consider how to upgrade THAT game to be more challenging? I reckon that is one mistake Ubisoft made and in AC2-Brotherhood it was accepted, yet by the time we got to AC3 it was all about the ship, it was all about the hardware, yet the story and dance were too similar. So what happens when you add a wildcard that is handed to you and is the one you are stuck with? Can you then too rise to the occasion? That becomes a much larger question.  And that is before you realise that to some extent random factors will decide whether you find a library and even more what you find there. Perhaps some chests in locations will offer a common book, but the rare and legendary can only be found in bookshops or libraries you encounter. 

Call out any game and for the mot the dedicated player can come up with an addition, or additional challenge and that is when real evolution starts. And it matter, because in gaming evolution can at times lead to innovation and that is such a rare stage that it entices scores of gamers to your game. That is what matters, because innovation is rare in franchise games, so when we see it we jump to attention fast. So are my ideas here innovation? No, they are merely iteration, but at times in iteration can lead to an innovation, and we all want that, especially in games we love playing. We all do, no exception.

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January 18, 2022 · 11:06

Overlooked IP

Yes, we all look at ideas that make us rich, we all do. I am no exception. I have my IP, a few in 5G, a few in consoles, in movies, in TV series, in NextGen printable hardware and at least one in books. So until they are all sold I am content. This is the stage where I saw another piece of IP waiting to come to fruition. I see it, yet it is not my forte, in this Google has a massive opportunity and so far no one saw the setting on their retina’s, or on their displays. As I see it Google Maps could be extended and it could extent YouTube creators. Yet I see no start of this, as such I decided to make it public domain and let you all fight over it, or fight over it with Google. You see during lockdown I mentioned that there are all these city walks, yet no one considered to link them to Google maps and to combine them, so that someone looking at the map could click on the YouTube video giving us a real view (more than street view). So when we look at the Map of Toronto (Johny Strides), London (Mostly Walking), Monaco (Tourist Channel), yet also in the other direction. There is for example POPTravel giving us Stockholm, Munich, Heraklion and London. All stages many want to see, but no one made the connection to link these sources to Google maps (or any other map for that matter). I wonder why, if information is selectable, sliceable, dice able and optionally can be set into a funnel, why did no one consider that the funnel can be reversed and that sliced and diced information can be aggregated, so I am a little surprised that this service was not added, making more people look at the information that w could see (via
Youtube). I know that some maps show images, but the city walks are a great source of impression. I wonder if no one else made that leap and it could spur YouTube members into optional additional creativity.

Where is the walking route?

Just a thought I had at 10:34 (after a cup of coffee, who is demanding credit for the thought), A stage we all face, we all have and whilst we all make statements like this, until the thought is set to paper and set to the public it basically does not exist. It is one of the oldest rules. If it is not written down it does not exist. I think it comes from the age of Caesar Augustus (63BC-14AD), so it is not a new rule and many should know this part, or they should have been made aware of this.

Good hunting and good fortune to you all (or is that Google hunting for good fortune?) 

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January 17, 2022 · 18:32

Principle of a chair

Yes, we get that. We sometimes we rely on the principle of a chair until we figure things out, we sit on the problem. We aren’t hiding it, we aren’t ignoring it yet at times we aren’t sure where we are in such a situation. We contemplate and I am no different. So when I saw (at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-59970281) the article ‘Is the pandemic entering its endgame?’ I was not sure how to feel about that. So when I saw ““We’re almost there, it is now the beginning of the end, at least in the UK,” Prof Julian Hiscox, chairman in infection and global health at the University of Liverpool, tells me. “I think life in 2022 will be almost back to before the pandemic.”” I was not sure how to feel, was the man openly optimistic? There is optimism and there is folly. Until November 2021 there was no Omicron, there was no enhanced danger to the global health systems. Now we see that we are seeing less cases, but it is still almost 2 million new cases a day. And that is whilst we openly see that the numbers from India do not make sense. A setting where the US has a health system that is near collapsing and the UK is in no better state. Then there is the one thought we all ignore, what comes next? Omicron slapped us across the face and when is there a next version? Is this Prof Julian Hiscox trying to sell us genuine pink salmon? (A Barnum and Bailey joke). Yet we also get the good stuff here, because we are told “What’s changing is our immunity. The new coronavirus first emerged two years ago in Wuhan, China, and we were vulnerable. It was a completely new virus that our immune systems had not experienced before and we had no drugs or vaccines to help.” I agree with that part, I agree that the vaccines are the solution, yet the evolution of Covid is still largely unknown, or at least we are not being told. So a next version could spell a lot of havoc in many lives. And that fear is confirmed with “The only major curve ball would be a new variant that can outcompete Omicron and cause significantly more severe disease”, as such the article makes a lot of sense and I cannot disagree, but at what stage do we ignore what might come? When do we accept the endemic path? People are all about to get back to the job and income, but the danger with endemic and a new version in that endemic universe means more death and even as I applaud that (we are as overpopulated as we need to be), will you feel the same when it is your children or your parents whose lives are on the line? We see the line that less die but this time around we have a new setting, the lack of hospital beds could also fuel deaths and Omicron made that clear in the US and the UK. Even if we see causality in these cases, we cannot continue on a path where people die because all the beds are taken by Covid cases. That was why I supported the stage where unvaccinated cases are not allowed hospital beds, and if required only through fully paid services (upfront), if you feel it is unfair, too bad. It is shown several times over that vaccinated people can get seriously sick, but shorter and for the most not fatally. So whenever I see another hack piece where someone claims that the unvaccinated take only 50% of the beds, I kinda go ‘Yes, and the pope is Jewish!’ There is a clear station where vaccines are the solution, yes there are a few dangerous side effects possible, but that danger is nowhere near the station of the unvaccinated dying of covid. So how do we react to anti vaccine people like Kelly Ernby, Marcus Lamb, Glynn Steel, William Hartmann? We need not react, covid killed them all and a lot more like them. My only issue is that they talked others in refusing the vaccine, optionally killing them all. 

Some say we need to to make fun of them. I am on the fence on that. On one side it might make those who listened to these anti-vaxxers wake up and get vaccinated, on the other hand their graves should be a clear message and in all this misinformation continues on nearly all fronts. The only issue is that even doctors are spreading misinformation. Not many, but those who do are fuelling into vaccination feelings under the average person and that is a dangerous stage. You see, the stage of an endemic is fine as long as we are ALL vaccinated, when that is not the case we will see more mutations and more deaths and that is the larger stage, the next mutation might be a lot more deadly than Omicron was. In Omicron it was about spreading the disease, but if that evolves into a more deadly version the game changes by a lot and to stop that danger we all need to be vaccinated, there is no other option. This is a stage we face, we either act in fear (for kids, siblings, parents), we act in denial, we act in support or in acceptance. I get it, they are all stages that propel us, but that is equally wrong, as is sitting on the problem, but at times when there are too many unknown elements it feels like the best solution. I got vaccinated in the early days, I am a product of vaccines (60’s) I lived through the eradication of Polio, difteria, TBC, measles and so on. Some of these diseases still exist, but they are now so rare that we act in surprise when a case does show up. At some point this will be the case for covid as well, but not now, there are still too many dangers and to some degree the anti-vaxxers are making it happen. It is my personal believe that a mutation can only come from an unvaccinated person. I know, it might be completely wrong, but that is how I feel and the medical people still do not know what drove covid, what brought mutations and why Omicron was regarded as ‘mild’ when we knew so little. Too many questions and we see no answers that is in part the problem because it fuels the feelings of anti-vaxxers. 

The principle of a chair is at times not the wrong position to have when enough information comes towards us, yet that too has not been the case with covid and w get it, there are a lot of unknown elements and scientists do need the time to study and prove parts. But this is a setting that has gone on for well over a year and the people are burning out on all sides and their less accepting side is becoming visible more and more, especially now.

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