As you all know by now, unless you really don’t like investigating reality, turning a profit has become the only value of Western Civilisation. It’s not that we don’t care about integrity and respect and enjoying the wealth we accumulate, it’s just that we don’t like profits to fall.
To this end, we have allowed political contributions to be a thing with zero regulations for conflict of interest. Although certainly not to blame but definitely the figureheads of the apocalypse, Howard, Thatcher and Reagan, is where we may place the blame.
That was the big picture.
Small picture as below.
Forge of Empires is a great game if you do not like being told what to do at each step of the game, and if you like building your own shit. Progression is horrifically Western i.e. annihilating native peoples from their lands and stealing their resources, and making a profit to research advancements in society, are at the core of the game: Forge points are required to do both.
Rather than bore you, or ruin the game play in detail, I’m here to note the progress of the developer > gamer power relationship.
There were little things to tap on which would appear in your city from time to time and each would reward with a prize of some sort. There were other necessary actions in-game which used to be a matter of remembering.
Now, some of those things require watching ads.
The developers messaged everyone a few months ago saying that for people who had paid for an in-game pack, they would not need to watch any ads.
Being me, I usually buy a pack 2 or 3 times a year as my thank-you to the developers for making a game I love.
So… I paid for a pack but still must watch repetitive ads for games, services and random bs that I have no interest in.
Ads ostensibly entice people to hand over money, yet how valuable are ads that have been repeatedly rejected by gamers? Seeing the same ad for the same game 3 times in a row surely defeats any allure the game may have had, and degrades Forge of Empire’s reputation?
Surely ad companies realised that after people moved away from ad-supported TV and into streaming i.e. away from ads that shoving ads in people’s faces is counter-productive?
And surely, making protests illegal is pushing discontented people to more extreme reactions?
Making a profit has limits. So the most expensive currency of the game, Diamonds, had payment confirmation switched off without consent, too.
If you keep shoving bs ads and bs laws in people’s faces, maybe it is not them that are doing some thing stupid.
Maybe it is ignoring the majority that is stupid.