The confusion is that the implied conclusion is
To be fair nobody plays just one single game for 3 years (they play multiple)
rather than
To be fair nobody plays one game for 3 years (they are too old)
The former complements the following argument regarding how costly buying vs subscribing would be. The latter doesn't work with the following paragraph that lists the unreliability of subscription libraries as a downside.
You are confusing my argument. You listed me 10+ games. If you paid $2/mo for 3 years and got to own a game for it, that would be enough for a couple of them at most. I'm not saying old games are not worth playing. I'm saying that if you had to pick between buying all the games you like or paying for a subscription, most likely the subscription would be more affordable. Because ultimately you played more than a single game.
To be fair nobody plays *JUST one single game for 3 years. Economically speaking it is more affordable to pay the subscription than to buy it. That said there are no guarantees they won't raise prices. I wouldn't be surprised if they eventually decide to include ads and add limits eventually. There's not even an expectation of control by the users.
But we have seen enough of how streaming libraries change and split. Losing access to your favorite game is an almost inevitable eventuality.
Most digital gaming stores are, except GOG and ItchIO. Even consoles are trying to push things that way. XBox has Game Pass and Playstation released a version of their console with no disc reader. Subscriptions may seem more fleeting that digital purchases but in actuality we've seen how companies can take down purchased media and entire digital storefronts.
I have purchased more Steam games than it would be sensible but as companies lose any qualm to take purchases away from customers, if anyone wants any any guarantee of ownership they really need to buy DRM-free and back them up independently.
I get it, but I think the idea here is supposed to apply to everyday commissions too.
I don't think so. Fursuits aren't a thing likely to be commissioned by companies.
I'm curious what AI Shark is supposed to do. If it's just an LLM with hints that's not gonna "eclipse the original GameShark's triumphs tenfold". I'd still rather have a cheat tool than a glorified Clippy for walkthroughs.
Good thing Barbarians got unarmored defense and proficiency at Constitution saving throws. Chances are the whole mimic just gets digested like a snack.
If the mimic wanted to be clever maybe they should have targeted the rogue or something.
I would hesitate to take a CEO on his word, but if it is actually unprofitable, that's no accident, it's an attempt to corner the market, instead of building something sustainable. Tech companies everywhere keep doing this and it has to stop.
It's looking like many companies are doing it at once so not any one of them gets focused on for backlash.
Dark Souls and souls games in general. But the difficulty is just half of it. I have beaten hard games before. The problem is that everything is so bleak I can't even feel motivated to try. I'll do a thing only for some NPC to go "it doesn't matter, everything is pointless and you're so insignificant". Inevitably being spoiled I know that even the single optimistic NPC is not getting it great. Y'all can mope, I'm gonna put my effort where it's appreciated.
This sort of argument is just a way to cope with the erosion of customer rights and the overreach of corporations over digital media as if that's some inevitable entropy of the universe type of thing. We still have books that are thousands of years old, but even though we have better technological means to store and reproduce media than ever, arbitrary legal hurdles are leading people to treat cultural loss as an inevitability.
You got your answer in your own response. Emulators are a thing. Virtual Machines are a thing. Proton is a thing. We figured out how to recover games going as far back as the Atari. Unless actively and fiercely obstructed people will figure out how to keep these things available out of sheer passion and goodwill.
A DRM-free installer/executable for a game, when properly backed up, will still be playable most likely indefinitely.
Unfortunately, as the mention of DRM itself indicates, obstructions are plentiful and ever increasing. This is why supporting DRM-free media and open platforms is valuable. Can you imagine what people could do if they were empowered instead of obstructed?