aphonefriend

Haven't seen anyone mention Starpoint Gemini. Warlords was probably the best iteration. Kinda like Eve but single player and a half way decent story.

But tell them they are talking to people all wrong and suddenly we are all Russian bots, or trolls, or secretly Trumpers

This bit is generally in response to the fact that the only time this rhetoric is heard is right before an election. Where was this talk and push for change the last four years? Where were the mass protests when Biden was in office and might have listened to a shutdown? Or at any point when the world wasn't staring down the barrel of a new hitler?

You can want positive change from your own political party while also acknowledging that they are still standing on higher ground than an actual Nazi. Time and a place for each.

So venture capitalism. Because that worked out so well for consumers with the rest of the tech industry. Wcgw?

Trust us bro. We won't send it anywhere. 🤞

Get friends with better values.

The difference is he was a poor trying to pull himself up. Corporations are glorious entities that can do no wrong in American law.

Opinions aside, that's still not the legal definition of a monopoly.

Monopoly: Exclusive control by one group of the means of producing or selling a commodity or service.

Valve does not have exclusive control of the PC gaming market. The EGS funded lawsuit even says that in the docket. They are only suing on the grounds of the keys issue. I don't disagree with you that when Newell leaves, things COULD change, but you can't base the present on the possible future. At this time, steam is on "top" because the vast majority of users have voted with their wallet and time. Not because they are engaged in sweeping anti-competitive backdoor dealings. You know, like EGS does.

That's not what a monopoly is.

Epic had all the money in the world and tons of time (and users) to create a viable alternative. They didn't fail because valve squeezed them out, they failed because they refuse to improve their product. In fact, it could be said that Epic wanted to become the monopoly themselves. If they spent half as much effort on their product as they do on lawsuits and exclusivity deals, they would have been a viable competitor. But they didn't. At the end of the day, it sucks to use. Steam does not.

Fallout was right.

Own a musket for home defense, since that's what the founding fathers intended. Four ruffians break into my house. "What the devil?" As I grab my powdered wig and Kentucky rifle. I blow a golf ball sized hole through the first man, he's dead on the spot. I draw my pistol on the second man, miss him entirely because it's smoothbore and nails the neighbors dog. I have to resort to the cannon mounted at the top of the stairs loaded with grape shot, "Tally ho lads" the grape shot shreds two men in the blast, the sound and extra shrapnel set off car alarms. Fix bayonet and charge the last terrified rapscallion. He Bleeds out waiting on the police to arrive since triangular bayonet wounds are impossible to stitch up. Just as the founding fathers intended.

The end can't come soon enough.