L.A. Batt

Possibility Weaver.

Writer. Fan of singing. Loves to create worlds.

Author: The System Apocalypse Short Story Anthology Vol. 1 - Overture to Obliteration.

[L.A. Batt @LukeB4tt]

@RinoTheBouncer Affecting? Yes. Positively? Yes.

Wokism destroys everything it touches.

It's not the only issue and reason for why we're in the state we're in, but it is a major contributing factor.

[L.A. Batt @LukeB4tt]

They did better on the people. Phil and Xbox gave them nigh-on unlimited funding to make their dreams with almost no oversight, and their dream games excited statistically no-one.

The agrument shouldn't be IP or Talent, it is guided or unguided. If you don't step in now and then to curate developer creativity, tell them no to some ideas, promote others, and in-general ensure they are making something that will be a hit, then you end up with Hellblade 2, Senua, Keeper, Kiln, South of Midnight, Contraband, Halo 5, the end of Gears 5, Redfall, Starfield, Fable Legends, Fable, and more.

If the talent don't after to those who buy, play, and champion their games en-masse, then don't be surprised when the funding runs dry and the studio closes.

[WWG1WGA🇺🇸♥️ @WWG1WGA_QQ]

🚨 OMG. A MASSIVE India H-1B visa fraud ring has just been busted...nearly 90% PERCENT of India's visa applications contain FRAUDULENT INFORMATION

100,000 THOUSAND counterfeit certificates have been seized 🤯

"Law enforcement in India claim it has uncovered a network of universities that produce fake degrees which were possibly used to obtain these high skilled H1B visas, including one school which allegedly stole over 36,000 fake degrees. It cost as little as $1,400 for one of those."

"And while these are supposed to be high skilled employees during almost all of Biden's time in office, 83% got junior or entry level positions."

This is INSANE! SHUT DOWN THE H-1B SCAM!

@KenPaxtonTX is now going after this in Texas 🔥

@kayleighmcenany @SatAmericaFNC

[L.A. Batt @LukeB4tt]

@SilentHitoshura @DestinLegarie Pretty much. Hopefully they're getting used to their saddles - a sudden influx of glue is not my desire.

[L.A. Batt @LukeB4tt]

@NotiXbox_ @asha_shar @ballmatthew @mattbooty @XBOX Ehh. Not really. She already had two chances, and they were mediocre at best. Good for indies, not for AAA. She and her world simply aren't that interesting.

[L.A. Batt @LukeB4tt]

Agreed. MS sucks at marketing. Has done for years... probably since.... shit.... the Gears of War 1 launch? They've been playing catch-up ever since Don Mattrick said "We have a product for people who can't get online, it's called the Xbox 360." What a fucking tool he was.

Anyway, yeah, traditionally, once acquired by MS, you'd lose creative freedoms, but Phil bought them, threw money at them, and said CREATE! Then they promptly wasted their golden opportunities to create the next God-Tier Xbox Mascot and IP.... every single dev that's on the chopping block that is.

Please let the next decade see them all successfully change course.

[L.A. Batt @LukeB4tt]

I want Ninja Theory, Double Fine, Compulsion Games, and any others that might be staring down a barrel at the moment to succeed. I really do. But they have made some catastrophically stupid decisions with regard to the games they've been making. I hope they're given time to make good on their talents under stronger guidelines.

[L.A. Batt @LukeB4tt]

@trailmixjesus @SmashJT It could still be good. But yeah, it was create at the height of wokism, sooooo.... it could be rough. I'm still waiting to see more.

[Winston Peters @winstonpeters]

Today “Rainbow Action Tamaki” sent me a letter threatening legal action against my previous post calling them a self-important, egotistical, bunch of rent-a-crowd protesters when they protested about NZFirst’s definition of a woman bill last Sunday.

They want me to delete my post, apologise, and donate money to their ‘charity’.

My post is now passing 1.7million views on Facebook. So no. I won’t be deleting it with all the positive responses it is receiving from kiwis with common sense who are backing our stance.

We also won’t be donating any money to their cause mainly due to not knowing which kind of flag it will be spent purchasing seeing as they can’t make their mind up what protest they are at.

And as for me saying I’m sorry:

I am sorry. I am sorry that you have proven us right. Your egos know no bounds.

I called you a bunch of egotistical mouth-breathers who think the universe revolves around you – and this threat of legal action, thinking that you are the most important thing in this whole conversation, is precisely why ordinary kiwis have had a gutsful of you and your rent-a-crowd.

If you want to take me to court, go ahead, we will ensure we use discovery to read all the emails and communications you had with the Green Party and whomever else you coordinate with and find out who is really behind all of this.

And for the last time, this isn’t about you. We couldn’t give a rat’s derriere about what you do in your private lives, what colour you want to dye your hair, or whether you want to identify as they or them or a lamppost.

Our stance and our bill is about the rights, safety, and protection of women and girls who want safe spaces and bathrooms, fairness in sports, and to protect their rights as women. If you seriously want to protest against that cause then you will find yourself on the wrong side of history.

We would wish you luck in your journey to figure that out, but it seems you would be too stupid to know what to do with it.

[L.A. Batt @LukeB4tt]

You'd presume wrong. I've had a short story published and have multiple irons in the fire - I get how brutal creation is, especially without money. But these studios had elite talent plus effectively unlimited budgets.

I'm not saying MS should overhaul staff or vision entirely. They bought studios with proven genres that could fill Xbox holes, gave creative freedom... and got games that doubled down on niche arthouse instead of scaling their pre-acquisition strengths into commercial hits.

Ninja Theory was known for action/adventure (Heavenly Sword, Enslaved, DmC). Hellblade 1 was a niche success - solid sales on a shoestring budget, and was indie-priced. Post-acquisition they tripled down (Hellblade II + the new Senua project) instead of pivoting toward broader-appeal action that could actually move units. MS/XBOX clearly didn't provide the guiding hand to turn their talent into a proper portfolio-filler, so now they're on the chopping block.

Same with Double Fine - acquired hoping for modern-day LucasArts classics, but post-buy it's mostly neat experiments like Keeper and Kiln that won't sustain the studio.

Talent and nostalgia aren't enough. Without AAA games in their pipelines that core buying Gamers will actually purchase and champion, these studios become drags on the bottom line - no matter their 'memberberries.

[L.A. Batt @LukeB4tt]

I don't 100% blame Phil, but he does deserve a fair amount of criticism.

During his leadership, the games industry became a very toxic place for normal Gamers, and Microsoft started mandating destructive policies regarding ESG and DEI.

All Phil really managed to do was buy companies that had a high chance of succeeding, then give them unlimited rope and the goal to be as creative as they wanted... the problem was that those companies were also infected, so didn't even try to make targeted products while sticking to MS' guidelines, and so their dream games ended up being titles that didn't really move consoles or excite enough Gamers to part with their money.

Things are finally starting to shift across the world regarding the toxic mandates, and the developers are finally discovering that the seemingly endless length of rope did have an end, and unless they have some ideas in the pipeline that will hit the core demo with money, time, and desire to play games, then it's either the glue factory, or Mr. Ed needs to work out a payment plan to buy himself out of his contracts.

[L.A. Batt @LukeB4tt]

@EXODUSGame Based on my IRL job and skills? Basically just IT and radio work. Could probably pick up electrical work, and maybe a little engineering. Comms. Part-time writer?

[L.A. Batt @LukeB4tt]

This bill is a disaster waiting to happen. Banning kids under 16 from social media might sound noble, but the way they’re going about it is flat-out wrong.

For starters, the whole thing is so vaguely written it’s basically unenforceable. The NZ Herald says it’ll force social media companies to verify everyone’s age, but how do you do that without a privacy nightmare? Are we all supposed to hand over passports or birth certificates just to scroll X? That’s not just impractical—it’s a slippery slope to making normal stuff illegal, like a 15-year-old joining a group chat to talk about school projects or hobbies. You can’t blanket-ban something like this without punishing innocent people.

And let’s be real: this isn’t about protecting kids. It’s a backdoor to shove digital IDs like RealMe deeper into our lives. RealMe already lets you prove your identity online for government services—now they want every single user to verify their age with formal documents? Luxon’s been talking about digitizing everything lately, and this fits right in. That’s a system where all our personal info gets handed to tech companies, stored who-knows-where, and probably misused down the line. Once that’s set up, it’s not a big leap to tie it to something like a Central Bank Digital Currency. They’re just using kids as an excuse to make us all okay with being tracked and controlled. Hard pass.

I get that social media can be rough for kids. There’s plenty of research showing it can add to anxiety and depression, especially since smartphones became a thing. But that’s not just a social media issue—it’s the whole digital world, from phones to PCs, plus the pressures of growing up today. Here’s the thing: that’s not the government’s job to fix. That’s on mums and dads. They need to step up, not the state. Parents can talk to their kids about what’s safe online, set boundaries, and keep an eye on what they’re doing. Studies from Pew years back show most parents are already connected with their kids online, having those conversations. The government doesn’t need to play replacement dad—something we’re seeing way too much of globally, like with Australia’s social media ban last year.

Instead of controlling us, they should support families. Encourage strong family setups—mums and dads working together. Offer optional tips for parents on guiding their kids through the online world, stuff they can choose to use or not. Share clear info on what’s good and bad about the internet, tailored for everyone, from kids and teens to adults. That’s all they need to do. Anything more is overreach, plain and simple. Information and communication are the bedrock of a free society, no matter how old you are. Start meddling with that, and you’re on a fast track to tyranny. Let’s not go there.

[L.A. Batt @LukeB4tt]

Hell YES! Please do this for all the core Halo books!

OMG. Fall of Reach, The Flood, First Strike, Contact Harvest, The Cole Protocol, Ghosts of Onyx!!!!! Please do this! Also, it would be great to get adaptions of Halo's 2-Infinite too. The Flood was a fantastic adaption of the first game, and the rest need that same level of attention - and if we can't have live action adaptions, then this is the next best thing :D

[L.A. Batt @LukeB4tt]

I've read and listened to The Fall of Reach so many times. Can't wait for this. I hope they do this for all the novels, but mainly the first 5-10. Woyld also be an awesome time to adapt Halo's 2-Infinite too like they did with The Flood for the first game. Have always wanted that.

[L.A. Batt @LukeB4tt]

Hell YES! Please do this for all the core Halo books!

OMG. Fall of Reach, The Flood, First Strike, Contact Harvest, The Cole Protocol, Ghosts of Onyx!!!!! Please do this! Also, it would be great to get adaptions of Halo's 2-Infinite too. The Flood was a fantastic adaption of the first game, and the rest need that same level of attention - and if we can't have live action adaptions, then this is the next best thing :D

[Halo @Halo]

Halo: The Fall of Reach like you’ve never heard it before.

Announcing an all-new, fully-dramatized adaptation of the Master Chief’s origin story, performed by a full cast led by iconic series voices Steve Downes, Jen Taylor, and Tim Dadabo.

Coming November 10, pre-order your copy from @SimonAudio: https://t.co/rgfah8PBfp

[L.A. Batt @LukeB4tt]

With a talented team like Ninja Theory, 3 years, and an almost unlimited budget from Microsoft... fuck yes it'd be "just that easy".

All the ingredients are there, all you need to a half decent writer, and game director that want to make games for the appropriate audience to pull it all together.

[NuZillund @NuZillund]

The social media ban isn't about children

And it isn't about whether you trust this government knowing what you do online

It's about trusting EVERY FUTURE GOVERNMENT FOR THE REST OF TIME knowing everything you do online

Please make a good decision Act and NZ1