Choo choo! All aboard the Complain Train!

[Xprimentyl]

I am really hating the buy digitally to play 3 days early before the physical version releases trend some companies are doing. It almost feels like it's semi-punishing people just for wanting a physical version, so you have to wait on the extra goodies later, when they would've came with the game to being with as bonuses.

Not sure how prolific that trend might be as I don't beholden myself to "ZOMFG, LimiTeD tImE OfFeRs!!1!!1!", but 3 whole days early seems like an extremely nominal benefit/bonus. Now if it was like a MONTH before or something, I could see (not agree, but see) that there might be a benefit for some people. Still stupid given the earliest version is likely to be patched beyond recognition by the time the "real" game drops for all the suckers who wait to have a physical copy that's not dependent upon availability from those who "sell" digital under the guise of permanence.

That said, I dislike how the industry keeps dancing around the real issue with digital: them charging full-retail price for literally giving you less. $60 physical/$40 digital would be a fair compromise, I think, but no, they seem to think the lack of permanence is somehow equal to a physical copy.

 

[BrawlMan]

Not sure how prolific that trend might be as I don't beholden myself to "ZOMFG, LimiTeD tImE OfFeRs!!1!!1!", but 3 whole days early seems like an extremely nominal benefit/bonus. Now if it was like a MONTH before or something, I could see (not agree, but see) that there might be a benefit for some people. Still stupid given the earliest version is likely to be patched beyond recognition by the time the "real" game drops for all the suckers who wait to have a physical copy that's not dependent upon availability from those who "sell" digital under the guise of permanence.

It's not a big deal, unless:

1. You want to avoid spoilers, so you'll have to get off YouTube.
2. The digital versions sometimes cost more than the physical versions. See Sonic X Shadow Generations. It's $60 digital, and $50 physical.
3. Silent Hill 2 Remake does a similar thing where the digital version is $80 and the physical version is $70.

Now if it was like a MONTH before or something, I could see (not agree, but see)

I can see this backfiring or a company pushing it too far. Either way, it's instilling a sense of FOMO for the sake of it. I'm a patient guy, but I prefer just have both versions out on the same day and be done with it. October is busy enough as it is anyway, and having both releases of Sonic X Shadows on Tuesday wouldn't have hurt Sega at all. Like all of their other same day releases of previous Sonic games.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

That said, I dislike how the industry keeps dancing around the real issue with digital: them charging full-retail price for literally giving you less. $60 physical/$40 digital would be a fair compromise, I think, but no, they seem to think the lack of permanence is somehow equal to a physical copy.

If you think that's bad... I learned recently that in my country that Red Dead 2, which launched at 2,300 in our currency on Steam, had it's price updated to fucking 3,399 this month. The 70 dollar SRP was bad enough, but now we get "inflation" for games that released 5 years ago? That shit should be illegal.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

I've been angling towards buying a used car. It was a Mazda6 Touring, a zippy little thing that was really fun to drive. However, out of an abundance of caution, I brought it to my mechanic to have it checked over before I bought it.

And it's a good thing I did, because the underside was a mess of rust and corrosion that probably wouldn't have lasted through the winter and would've cost me almost half the sale price of the car to repair.

I guess I'm stuck with my current car for a little while longer.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

Michigan’s auto insurance is the biggest scam in the country. I mentioned a while back I got rear ended at a red light and the police report even said the other driver mentioned themselves they weren’t paying attention. Fast forward to now and our insurance premiums went up almost $1,600 for the year, and that’s after a $600 discount for paying up front. The agent specifically gave the reason as being since Michigan is a “no fault” state that it doesn’t matter who was “at fault” and the rate will go up. It’s been a shitshow trying to shop around for something cheaper, as if life isn’t busy and expensive enough as it is.

“No fault” my ass. Sure as fuck feels like it being penalized like this, with nothing on my record. Meanwhile other states have the crazy idea of rewarding those who are safe drivers with lower rates. FTR MI’s auto insurance cost is over twice the national average.

Why Is Car Insurance So Expensive in Michigan?

Michigan residents pay the highest car insurance premiums in the country. Learn more about the roots of these high costs and ways you can lower your rates.

www.moneygeek.com

Why Is Michigan Car Insurance So Expensive?

Car insurance in Michigan is expensive because it's a no fault state with high insurance coverage requirements. But the biggest reason Michigan drivers pay more for car insurance than anyone else in the country is that it is the only state with unlimited lifetime coverage for catastrophic injuries

wallethub.com

The unlimited lifetime coverage for catastrophic injuries is insane and people driving around without insurance shouldn’t be allowed to drive. Ruins it for everyone else.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Youtube keeps recommending me videos about barefoot shoes. I assume it's because I sometimes watch videos about fitness, and barefoot shoes are part of the fitness algorithm, but I don't give a fuck about barefoot shoes and have clicked "I'm not interested" or "don't recommend channel" on every single one and youtube keeps doing it.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

Sometimes the customer is an idiot and needs to stfu and deal with it.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Youtube keeps recommending me videos about barefoot shoes. I assume it's because I sometimes watch videos about fitness, and barefoot shoes are part of the fitness algorithm, but I don't give a fuck about barefoot shoes and have clicked "I'm not interested" or "don't recommend channel" on every single one and youtube keeps doing it.

The "don't recommend channel" option is effectively the same as the buttons at crosswalks, i.e.: a placebo.

 

[Chimpzy]

 

[davidmc1158]

Anything Christmas-y that appears before the day after Thanksgiving is an abomination unto the powers of the universe and needs to be smited, preferably with an old-school lightning strike.

On a different note, less of a complaint and more of a sad acknowledgement, the number of trick-or-treaters in our neck of the woods was quite small this year. In my area, the weather turned chilly (not really bad, but it dropped to below 60F) and it being a weekday didn't help. I guess I'm just a Halloweenie who enjoys handing out treats on this holiday and it saddens me that the turn-out was so small this year.

 

[Kyrian007]

Anything Christmas-y that appears before the day after Thanksgiving is an abomination unto the powers of the universe and needs to be smited, preferably with an old-school lightning strike.

On a different note, less of a complaint and more of a sad acknowledgement, the number of trick-or-treaters in our neck of the woods was quite small this year. In my area, the weather turned chilly (not really bad, but it dropped to below 60F) and it being a weekday didn't help. I guess I'm just a Halloweenie who enjoys handing out treats on this holiday and it saddens me that the turn-out was so small this year.

I agree (with both) but unfortunately get used to it. Trick or Treat is not really a thing anymore. Now it is all about, Trunk or Treat. I wasn't paying attention and suddenly instead of going house to house like I used to in the old days, now all the parents are arranging deals with schools or malls or businesses to use their parking lots for Trunk or Treat. For those who aren't familiar with it (I wasn't until last year) the parents park in the lot and decorate the back of their vehicles with spooky accoutrement... then the kids walk from car to car while the parents hand out candy from the back of their SUV's. And this... thing has replaced almost all trick or treating in my area. It's safer, kids aren't crossing streets and every parent is there watching all the kids all the time. That's why it is being done, and ok... it is safer for the kids... But I look way back at my trick or treating days in the 80's. I would not give that up for a trip to a parking lot.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Anything Christmas-y that appears before the day after Thanksgiving is an abomination unto the powers of the universe and needs to be smited, preferably with an old-school lightning strike.

You are too generous. Anything Christmas-y should happen on Christmas day. PERIOD. Y'all love it so much, then cram all that bullshit into a single day of a holiday orgy, and let we ADULTS have the other 364 days of the year in peace from all that nonsense.

I agree (with both) but unfortunately get used to it. Trick or Treat is not really a thing anymore. Now it is all about, Trunk or Treat. I wasn't paying attention and suddenly instead of going house to house like I used to in the old days, now all the parents are arranging deals with schools or malls or businesses to use their parking lots for Trunk or Treat. For those who aren't familiar with it (I wasn't until last year) the parents park in the lot and decorate the back of their vehicles with spooky accoutrement... then the kids walk from car to car while the parents hand out candy from the back of their SUV's. And this... thing has replaced almost all trick or treating in my area. It's safer, kids aren't crossing streets and every parent is there watching all the kids all the time. That's why it is being done, and ok... it is safer for the kids... But I look way back at my trick or treating days in the 80's. I would not give that up for a trip to a parking lot.

Yeah, I've been getting that vibe for a while now. We've put out a bowl of candy on the honor system every year for like the past 5 years; first year it was about 3/4 taken up, a couple years later about half remained, and last night, the bowl was completely untouched; I think someone may have ADDED candy to it. I attributed it to kids in our area growing up without younger ones moving in to replace them, but this seems to be the sentiment I'm getting from a lot of people in surrounding areas: kids aren't going out anymore. Haven't seen or heard of any Trunk or Treat events around here, but then again, I've never looked for them.

 

[BrawlMan]

Haven't seen or heard of any Trunk or Treat events around here, but then again, I've never looked for them.

Trunk or Treat Has become more popular in Detroit and most of Michigan now. It's either that or halloween events and parties. So long as the kids are having fun and stay safe, then I have zero issues.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

My old job didn't pay well, but the medical coverage was pretty dang good. My new job? Not so much. My prescriptions have gone from about $66 every three months to $295.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Woke up this morning to learn that Trump is president elect, and my favorite Formula 1 driver lost his seat for the 2025 season. Between the shame and pain, I imagine this must be what it feels like waking up after partying with Diddy the night before.

 

[XsjadoBlayde]

K the pessimism one wants to be coy, fine. Was just collab of depressed dialogues like this'n

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Just spent around 3 hours migrating everything from my old phone to my new one. I'll admit it is WAY easier than it used to be, but man, just signing into every app again was exhausting. Hope I won't need to do this for a good long time.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Xbox customer service is sucks. Bought a digital game, and it crashes back to the home screen every time I try to start it. Their support page only offers all the dumb shit anyone with half a brain already knows to do before researching solutions: restart the console, re-install the game, check your network, etc. etc. Then they have a "contact us" page that send you back to the troubleshooting links mentioned above. You can "chat" with them, but it's a friggin' bot that refers you to the troubleshooting links! When I told it I'd already done all of those things, it told me to contact game's support team. WTF, dude.

 

[XsjadoBlayde]

Xbox customer service is sucks. Bought a digital game, and it crashes back to the home screen every time I try to start it. Their support page only offers all the dumb shit anyone with half a brain already knows to do before researching solutions: restart the console, re-install the game, check your network, etc. etc. Then they have a "contact us" page that send you back to the troubleshooting links mentioned above. You can "chat" with them, but it's a friggin' bot that refers you to the troubleshooting links! When I told it I'd already done all of those things, it told me to contact game's support team. WTF, dude.

Ooh can I guess which game? Cos I bought one digitally that also crashes out whenever attempts to start or enter the settings menu are made. Is it (not) Towers of Aghasba? If not, then 2 different console releases flat out not working is an ominous sign indeed.

Microsoft is a shit like that, did the same when I was trying to figure out why main email account was locked and if it could be fixed at all. There was no way to access a human no matter what angle I tried, had to give up in the end was so frustrating, all other web accounts were linked to it too.

srsly tho console supposed to come with few basic garuntees, main one being: game work when buy

 

[Xprimentyl]

Ooh can I guess which game? Cos I bought one digitally that also crashes out whenever attempts to start or enter the settings menu are made. Is it (not) Towers of Aghasba? If not, then 2 different console releases flat out not working is an ominous sign indeed.

Microsoft is a shit like that, did the same when I was trying to figure out why main email account was locked and if it could be fixed at all. There was no way to access a human no matter what angle I tried, had to give up in the end was so frustrating, all other web accounts were linked to it too.

srsly tho console supposed to come with few basic garuntees, main one being: game work when buy

No, my game is, well, WAS SUPPOSED TO BE Anomaly Hunter: Observation Duty. Watched a couple of videos of people playing Exit 8 and Platform 8, games played from the first-person perspective and your stuck in an ostensibly infinite, short loop unless you spot the differences in the loop at each level and act accordingly to progress. At first, I thought they were really dumb, low-budget walking simulators, but as I watched, they were really intriguing. Alas, the only thing similar I could find for Xbox was Anomaly Hunter: Observation Duty, not nearly as engaging as Exit and Platform 8, but better than nothing.

Anyway, I think to get a human being on the phone at Microsoft's customer service requires an act of God. And a refund for digital purchases, functional or not, is out of the question; their website makes that abundantly clear. "Fortunately," the game was only $10; had this been a $60 title, best believe I'd be hunting someone down, in person if I had to.