Val ⚜️

FFXIV - DRK/SGE/VPR/DNC/RDM (Omni) - Degree in music theory I guess - Usage of GenAI is being proven to decrease critical thinking and brain activity.

[Val ⚜️ @ValHighwind]

@OpossumMedic @11975MHz @OPceSniffer @bzl_bub Something about changing it from a British name to a Mexican name is so funny.

[Val ⚜️ @ValHighwind]

@XSarahNova @bloakie80072 @The_PunKing @DawareTV Hopefully the mountain of video evidence against them is enough for the judge to tell them they did it to themselves.

[Val ⚜️ @ValHighwind]

@themoderntimes_ I think it makes more sense to say called because using a phone has not been the only way to call someone for a long time, so saying called or calling covers a much broader spectrum.

[Val ⚜️ @ValHighwind]

@foxgirlfrot @Steam Tin Sweeny is going to see this and go on another rant, please don't subject us to that

[Marcus Pittman @ImKingGinger]

Woah Buddy! Insane LEGO Corruption!

The American Fork Police Department just "accidentally" released 50gb of unredacted Body Cam footage reguarding Reckless Ben and Bricks and Minifigs, but deleted it to late before the internet grabbed them.

In the media dump the Joshua Johnson asks to see the legal court papers but the officer refuses to show it to him because it would count as a legal service and says it would "place him in a bind"

This police department, Joshua Johnson and Ammon McNeff are all toast. I've never seen the internet unanimously come together in unison on anything like this in my life.

[Val ⚜️ @ValHighwind]

@_asmodai @DYamamma @Rothmus There is a difference between making a joke and making a joke *at* someone, and even the original post has the caveat of doing so without malicious intent. I agree with you, just not in this particular post.

[RÈBELs RÄÎDÈRs @Rebels_Raiders]

Ah yes, human economics. Very fascinating. Very concerning.

*wheeze*

“Who does Earth owe $350 trillion to?”

Mostly itself.

You owe money to pension funds, banks, insurance companies, investment funds, foreign governments, central banks, corporations, and millions of individual investors.

*wheeze*

In other words, humans have invented a system where they borrow money from themselves, pay interest to themselves, panic about it constantly, and then argue on the extranet about who is responsible.

As a Vølüs, I find this arrangement delightfully profitable.

The more interesting question is not who you owe. The question is whether the debt grows faster than the economy that supports it.

* wheeze*

If I owe 10,000 credits and earn 100,000 credits per year, nobody cares.

If I owe 10,000 credits and earn 12 credits per year, suddenly C-Sec starts asking questions.

Hah hah hah…* wheeze*

So when a human says, “We owe $350 trillion! Who do we owe it to?”

The answer is:

“Mostly other humans. The real question is whether future humans can keep making enough money to convince everyone not to panic.”

* wheeze*

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have several sovereign debt instruments to sell to the Elcor. They take a very long-term view of investments.

[Val ⚜️ @ValHighwind]

Precisely. Let's use Lego as an example. Lego is *the* building brick toy brand. Most people who like building bricks will pick Lego because it is the most well known, has the best themes, and has a quality pedigree, but then there are companies that offer the same thing, just with different themes and licensed brands like Mega Bloks or Brickcraft. Steam is PC games Lego brand. It's just the best one and the most well known.

[Val ⚜️ @ValHighwind]

Epic Games is the platform equivalent of a drugged out rich kid that did bad in highschool, but still got into a good college (PC games) because their rich dad (Tim Sweeny with Fortnite money) paid to get them in.

And now the parent is mad that their kid is failing, while also failing to understand that paying the college off doesn't mean their kid will succeed.

[Val ⚜️ @ValHighwind]

@old_dwayne @tehshaprr The previous owners were forced out of the franchise by the new owners threatened via litigation before they could even do anything about those sets. There's audio recordings and video.

[Val ⚜️ @ValHighwind]

@howlinghowler_ I'm not even Mormon lmao

[Val ⚜️ @ValHighwind]

You get to the place where Steam is by providing a quality product. Valve earned the market share it has by earning the good will of PC users.

You then come in, with an underdeveloped launcher, and also bring exclusivity to the PC platform which is why a lot of PC players hate consoles, and dangle free games over people like jingling keys, and wonder why people hate you.

The 30% cut is industry standard, Tim. Xbox, Sony, and Nintendo as well as other PC platforms take a 30% cut, so why not go after them? You are only a monopoly if you have cornered the market making competition impossible.

There are more choices for gamers to pick from than just Steam, and it isn't impossible to compete with Steam either, no one just wants to risk nearly going under like Valve almost did to bring a competitive and quality product to compete with it.

[Tim Sweeney @TimSweeneyEpic]

Is this the "fair competition" praised by recent articles?

If a store with dominant market share taking a 30% cut can bully developers into not passing on savings to customers on competing stores with lower fees, then competition doesn't stand a chance.

[Val ⚜️ @ValHighwind]

That's fair, plus Ben has some of the most damning video/audio recordings on both the AFPD and BAM/B&F. I'm sure they could slap him with some small charges but it's going to be hard for his opponents to wiggle out of this especially with a massive public eye on this one as you said.

[Val ⚜️ @ValHighwind]

1. You are using AI to think for you. Stop it. It's stunting your ability to use your brain.

2. Monopoly means that there are no other options for consumers to use. There are multiple on PC.

3. The 30% cut is industry standard, if you are going to get upset at Steam for this, do the same for Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, etc.

[Val ⚜️ @ValHighwind]

@splattersmot @Hammerman7015 The worst part of it, is that the Book of Mormon isn't even a Bible, it's a secondary text that is meant to 'contextualize and supplement' the Bible, which is an overt blasphemy.

[Val ⚜️ @ValHighwind]

As someone who lives in Utah, the American Fork Police department has a notoriously bad reputation that is well known across the state. Other police departments across the state make fun of them.

Take everything they say with a grain of salt or just dismiss it as lying. They never hold themselves accountable.

[Dexerto @Dexerto]

YouTuber Reckless Ben responds to American Fork PD's video on his arrests over a $200,000 Lego Star Wars collection dispute

"Stop lying about the facts ... unredact the audio ... some of the best lawyers in the US are reaching out to me"

[Val ⚜️ @ValHighwind]

It's most likely not anything monetary. The problem stems from Mormon protectionism, which is one of the main reasons that AFPD has the reputation it does. They have a very tight-knit community there, and the community protects each other against 'outside influence' all the way up to the judicial level, so we rarely see the AFPD actually face any accountability. Just so happens that BAM is headquartered in Utah, as well as the owners of the franchise that caused all these issues being American Fork citizens.

[Val ⚜️ @ValHighwind]

A lot of it is overblown, I have had plenty of good experiences from the Layton and Logan/Cache County PD's, plenty that I have had no experience with, and several that I have had bad experiences with, like West Valley PD. American Fork PD has had the reputation it does for a long, long time.

[Val ⚜️ @ValHighwind]

The current (conspiracy) theory is that since the FBI and CIA overwhelmingly hire Mormons... well, I'm sure you can connect the dots on that. Realistically, the feds only really investigate for federal civil rights violations or unconstitutional conduct. They have been held 'accountable' for previous scandals, but pretty much immediately reverted back to old habits.

[Val ⚜️ @ValHighwind]

@AA712_Beam @Hammerman7015 Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me at this point