CatZoomies

joined 1 year ago
MODERATOR OF
[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

My eyes naturally found Golden Sun in your comment, so I immediately upvoted before I finished reading your thoughts.

Now I’m curious about Urban Rivals and will check it out since I haven’t played browser games since ~2000-2006.

[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Wow, 7 TB in a month?

Slaps roof of internet router

You can fit a lot of Linux ISOs in that data cap!

[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 25 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Microsoft Edge: “Thank you, Chrome, for sharing the load.”

[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The sacred texts! Is this why Payless Shoes is no longer around? Because we minimated them?

[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 22 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The ultimate gamer high is to take a deep breath from the Steam Deck exhaust, lick a Switch cartridge, hold your breath, and then chug down a G Fuel.

[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

No prob dude. Ideally I hope they take the idea requests I submitted to heart. It’s a good service but the hostile ad needs to be stopped as it’s not okay.

If they respond to us and make these changes to listen to their communities, I think I’d be more inclined to recommend them.

For now I’ll ride out my subscription and then I’ll return to Mullvad.

[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

The song in this TV spot is a variation of a released song and was made exclusively for the purpose of this TV spot. This version was never released.

The original song is "Still With Me" by Tritonal feat. Cristina Soto.

 

I'm replaying Arkham Asylum for the first time since close to when it first came out! It's old for sure but it doesn't take long to get used to it again.

However, I'm reminded of 2013 when young me saw a TV commercial for "Batman: Arkham Origins".

If you're a Batman fan and never saw this trailer before, I promise you that this is the epitome Batman video that captures the pain, resolve, and essence of Batman entirely within 53 seconds. This is a must-watch.

Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/InUj9BT8KCc

[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

100% agree with you dude. As customers, we do want to know about sales. But companies need to meet us in the middle. Give us the option to opt out. And in your app, embed a non-annoying advertisement about your sale.

Show a sales banner that does not obstruct the functional UI or take up signficiant real estate. Have a "Deals" or "Offers" button that is animated - wiggle, shake, whatever! That's the best compromise for the user experience.

Steam has pop ups, but you can opt out of that pop up that shows your Recommendation queue in a carousel you can click through to see different games. I think that's cool! But I have the option to disable it and so I have done so. If I want to see my recommendations, I can look at the main page and simply click left and right through them to discover new games.

We need Proton to think about the user experience and give us the option to opt out of those things.

[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

Right! I think if I was a free user, yeah I'd be annoyed that I got a huge pop up. But I'd accept that - I'm using a service for free and benefiting from it entirely.

As a paid user if that pop up appears, there better be a tick box right below that ad that gives me the option to tick "Don't show promotional pop ups again". And if it is not in the pop up window, I better see a toggle in Settings. If it did exist, I would have been annoyed it popped up but would have been relieved I could disable them in perpetuity. I never would have made this post on Lemmy if that were the case! :)

But they have devs to pay, managers, customer service reps, SRE, infrasture providers, vendors, marketing, etc. Embed a "Sale" banner in the app that doesn't annoy or take up significant UX space. I want to see an "Offers" or "Sale" button that wiggles/shakes/animated. Things like that are necessary because they need to make money. I'm okay with that! But oof those pop ups - gosh I hate them.

[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

Yep totally. I think that's the way to go. Granted this is the first time I'm using "Proton" services and also that I'm paying for their VPN. I imagine they send you emails like this to give you a heads up your subscription is expiring.

What you wrote though is exactly what I want to see. It's a non-annoyance and expected. I do know they have bills to pay and a lot of employees that won't work for free. So what I would appreciate from their apps are no pop ups. Give me an embedded banner in the app when you have a sale. Make an "Offers" button animated or wiggle/shake to alert the user there is a cool sale going on. I just don't want pop ups, especially when they take up 30% of my screen real estate. I would not have been mad at all if there was a tick box that said "Don't show offers again" in that pop up window. I would have said, "cool, I can turn this stupid thing off" and never would have made this post on Lemmy nor engaged Proton support because I would know they consider the experience of their users.

[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Saving money is always good for me. I'm willing to pay more for an excellent service. When I was younger and money was very tight for me, I went with the cheap crap and dealt with frustrations. I'll continue to use the VPN service I paid for, and unless it totally blows me away with wonderful features and greater uptime than Mullvad, I most likely will not renew with them. Mullvad worked exceptionally well, but at least a handful of times a week I would get connection errors and would need to switch to a new IP (a minor annoyance).

Thanks! So this wallpaper is embedded in "Wallpaper Engine" from Steam. I don't have the original, but the artist for these wallpapers is "ITZAH". Here's their Steam community workshop: https://steamcommunity.com/id/1tzah/

Edit: I snipped a screenshot of what it looks like. This is not saved in a proper wallpaper desktop resolution since I simply just used a snip of my desktop wallpaper. A formative game from my younger years - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

I hear ya. I'm in a bit of a tricky and conflicted position here because I know obviously companies need to advertise. And Proton switched to the non-profit model in June 2024 and established the Proton Foundation (https://proton.me/blog/proton-non-profit-foundation). I was hoping this announcement would help ease back their aggressive advertising.

They need money, and employees don't work for free. They have a lot of people to pay. My compromise is if they can limit the ads that turn people off: pop ups and annoyances. If there's a big sale coming up, I welcome them embedding a banner in their app to say "Hey, check out this offer!". That's totally fine with me. If I like a service, I'll explore it more and pay for it. But once it gets too hostile, I'm immediately turned off and start looking elsewhere.

 

I'm quite angry at this. I've used Mullvad VPN without any obtrusive ads, with a clean interface that worked very well.

I stumbled upon a new Proton plan and decided I'd pay and sign up to give it a go to meet my growing needs. After turning on my computer, I'm greeted with a massive pop up advertisement that takes up ~30% of my screen. While scanning settings, I do not see an easy way to disable these promotional ads.

I feel like I've gone back in time and am using Norton software that I got with my HP Pavilion Windows XP pc.

I did a quick Internet search and see there's a Reddit post from a year ago where a user complained about the same thing, but no solution was provided. If I find anything I'll update this post. But right now I'm quite angry, and I'm venting because this is my first reaction to seeing this crap. I'm paying for a service and the last thing I want to see are pop up ads.

I'm going to have a serious think about whether or not I should cancel my subscription and instead just keep my Mullvad.

EDIT:

I finished checking Proton VPN's settings and there is no option to disable promotional ads. I'll contact Proton support and see what they advise. Will revert after I hear back from them and complete the Support interaction.

EDIT 2: I posted a reflective comment below, but I figure I'll update this post. I first made this post shortly after I woke up, and my reaction was anger. Now that it's been some time and I have had breakfast, my coffee, and been at work for a while, I realise I shouldn't have reacted that way. I'm more disappointed than angry. I get it if Proton wants to have a pop up that appears once around the Black Friday sales day, which is fine. But at least Steam lets me disable pop up promotions. Why can't Proton? If they won't add a toggle to disable those, then fine I get it - but I only want to appear once. Or at least embed a banner in the Proton app, or just have an "Offers" button. I pay for a service, I don't want pop ups as I personally feel they're hostile to the User experience. Why should that feature exist when Mullvad's UI is seamless, intuitive, and has no pop up ads? Anyway, I'm an adult and I reacted like I'm still a kid. Need to learn from this type of thing and be a better person - sorry, I'm having a reflective introspective moment here that no one should care about except me ha ha.

EDIT 3: Another user recommended I submit a feature request to improve Proton, which I have done so.

Here is where I posted and voted on my idea request:

"Add Settings toggle to disable pop up promotional ads from Proton (e.g., Black Friday promo)" - https://protonmail.uservoice.com/forums/932836-proton-vpn/suggestions/48959543-pop-up-notifications-in-the-proton-vpn-application#comments

And here is another idea request I found from someone else who posted something similar a few weeks ago on oct 14th, although their request is to just disable pop up ads entirely:

"Pop-up notifications in the Proton VPN application, specifically those promoting Proton Duo" - https://protonmail.uservoice.com/forums/932836-proton-vpn/suggestions/48959543-pop-up-notifications-in-the-proton-vpn-application#comments

I think the suggestion here is that if you're a Proton user and if this bothers you, it might be worth commenting and voting on my idea request to help with visibility to the Proton dev team.

I'll post a final update once I complete my support interaction with proton support.

FINAL EDIT:

I included a screenshot with all identifiable information redacted for both Proton and myself. I guess two Zendesk support tickets were created for this issue. While you can review the full details in the responses, the summary from Proton is simply as follows:

  • We have the ability to opt out of promotional communications over email by logging into your Proton online account.
  • Disabling promotional pop ups in Proton VPN (and perhaps other Proton apps - I only have VPN) is not a feature in the application
  • You can submit and vote on feature requests in the UserVoice platform they setup.

Ultimately, the only way we can request this change is by voting for it on the UserVoice platform. If this issue is important to you, scroll up and click on those Uservoice.com links I provided and vote on those features. Also helps to add a comment on that page as well.

As for me, I think me feeling like my reaction to cancel is brash (as I previously shared my feelings to this issue in an earlier update yesterday. I'll certainly keep my subscription simply because I've only had it for a small time frame and I have not fully tried out the service. Unless Proton VPN blows me away with features that I can't get in any other VPN, I don't believe I'll renew. I will most likely let my subscription expire and then go back to Mullvad since they give a fantastic VPN app with things that are not hostile to the user experience. If Proton commits to adding the feature I'm looking for, I may consider renewing or possibly exploring their other services.

Thanks for everyone chiming in with their thoughts. Hope you learned something today (???)! And I'll leave you with one final thing - remember to be kind to each other. Sure I reacted over this issue with anger, but I was kind to the support people at Proton because it's certainly not their fault. And most importantly, I had a chance to reflect and realise my anger at the situation was immature and I hope that I tucked this away and learned from it. Remember to forgive yourself like I did. The world needs more kindness - be the change you want to see in the world. Alright, enough of this positivity crap. This is just a post about a VPN service, not a feel good moment. :)

 

Corn starch is good for keeping down the urges. Science says so. Recommend.

 

Hey Everyone!

You probably saw my post a few weeks back where I am giving away some Steam codes for a bunch of games: https://lemmy.world/post/18183898

I've been really tied up handling some personal things so I have not been able to start drawing codes on Sep 1st like I planned. However, everything's good on my side, so I'll start drawing winners now!

While all the details are in the original post linked above, here's the main bullet points people will care about:

  • If you are a winner, I will @ mention you in the comments to the original post.
  • I will also send you a Direct Message
  • You will have 48 hours to claim.
  • I also ask that you confirm back to me that you were successful, and it would be great if you post a comment saying you claimed it for transparency. (Optional of course, you don't have to do anything you don't want to do.)
  • If the winner does not get back to me with a reasonable 48 hours, I will redraw.
  • I will continue redrawing until game codes are exhausted and all codes have been claimed.

All winners will be notified on the original post, not this post.

Therefore, go here: https://lemmy.world/post/18183898

I will also edit the original post with updates so that everyone can keep track of the winners and codes.

For the upcoming winter holiday, I might check and see if any people out there want to collaborate on donating a bunch of keys and then we do a massive games giveaway. People have been messaging me periodically about something like this, and I think it'd be cool to organize. Might have to work it out with the Admins of Lemmy.World, but let's see.

Good luck to the winners, and again, very sorry that I wasn't able to start drawing the winners until slightly over a week later!

CatZoomies | c/PCMasterRace Moderator

 

Tropico 4 is being given away for free on GOG!

Offer ends in roughly 3 days from time of this post. Best to get it before August 29th.

Giveaway Link:

Game Details:

 

Hey all!

I'm a little busy with personal things, so I wanted to extend my games giveaway, and include some more games that a kind Lemming donated. No further donations accepted, sorry! 😅

Giveaway Extended until August 31, 2024 end of day local time.

I updated the original post and added the new games there!

Go to this post in order to enter:

Good luck, have fun!

CatZoomies | c/PCMasterRace Moderator

 
Update Sep 21:
All winners have claimed the games! Congrats again to all the winners, and thanks everyone for participating!

If you didn't win, look out for another giveaway I'll host in the future. Most likely in Winter 2024. I'll try to get us other games besides Action/RPGs lol. :D

Note:
The games donated by an anonymous Lemmy user are still available.
I will make a separate post in [!GiftOfGaming@Lemmy.World](/c/GiftOfGaming@Lemmy.World).  I will do this next week so I can rest and recover from my cold.
Update Sep 20 - Part 2:
Only one last key remaining, pending a response from the winner:
- Tomb Raider Definitive Survivor Trilogy - 1 key remaining - Winner: Pending

Note: The remaining keys from the anonymous person that donated to me will be given away as a separate post in [!giftofgaming@lemmy.world](/c/giftofgaming@lemmy.world)
Update Sep 20:
Sorry folks, I got back from a work trip and am also getting over a cold. This is the first day that I feel well enough to use my computer, so I'll continue with redraws. So far, most of the keys have been claimed but others have not gotten back to me within the 48 hours.
New winners have been selected for the final three games:
- Final Fantasy I-VI Bundle (Pixel Remasters) - 1 key remaining
- Hogwarts Legacy: Deluxe Edition - 1 key remaining
- Tomb Raider Definitive Survivor Trilogy - 1 key remaining

Note that the remaining keys from the anonymous person that donated to me will be given away as a separate post in [!giftofgaming@lemmy.world](/c/giftofgaming@lemmy.world)
Update Sep 8:
I made a post here to announce I would start drawing today - https://lemmy.world/post/19534362
I'm a little delayed with giving these games away as my intention was to do it on Sep 1st. Unfortunately some personal things got in the way, but now we're good to go and I can starting handing them out!
- All winners have been notified. They have 48 hours to get back to me. See my comments below starting with: "Congratulations! You've been selected as the winner of..."
- I will update the list of games below when the game has been claimed by the winner.

These games have automatic winners since they were the only one who entered:
- Pony Island - [@Aviandelight@mander.xyz](https://mander.xyz/u/Aviandelight) 
- Sniper Elite 4 - [@EpicStuff@lemmy.ca](https://lemmy.ca/u/EpicStuff) 
- Strange Horticulture - [@midimalist@lemdro.id](https://lemdro.id/u/midimalist) 
- Congrats to the lucky winners!!

No one entered for these games. I will make a new post in [!giftofgaming@lemmy.world](https://lemmy.world/c/giftofgaming) and will give away the codes there:
- Agatha Knife
- Calico
- Cultures Bundle
- Stronghold Crusader HD
- Two Point Hospital (EU Region-Locked ONLY)
- Valhalla Hills Two-Horned Helmet Edition
Update Aug 18:
I added more games from a kind, anonymous Lemming. I extended the giveaway to August 31st. No more donations accepted - thank you!

Hey PC Master Race community! And hi anyone else that stumbles upon this post and is not a member of the PCMR community!

Summer is almost over, and it has been an interesting year for sure. I previously did a giveaway for last Winter Holiday 2023, and decided I should do another giveaway! Basically because we here in Lemmy are still alive and kicking, and I want to do something nice for a few lucky gamers.

Games I'm giving away:

Some of the games have multiple key codes, denoted by the quantity.

  1. ~~Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion | Quantity 1 | Steam Product Page~~ - Winner: @M0115732@lemmy.world
  2. ~~Final Fantasy I-VI Bundle (Pixel Remasters) | Qty 2 | Steam~~ - Winner 1: @Apeman42@lemmy.world, Winner 2: @darkdemize@sh.itjust.works
  3. ~~Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade | Qty 2 | Steam~~ - Winner 1: @Xatolos@reddthat.com, Winner 2: @Fuzzypyro@lemmy.world
  4. ~~Hogwarts Legacy Deluxe Edition | Qty 2 | Steam~~ - Winner 1: @Boxscape@lemmy.sdf.org , Winner 2: @meatwads_tooth@sh.itjust.works
  5. ~~NieR: Automata Game of the YoRHa Edition | Qty 1 | Steam~~ - Winner: @Cossty@lemmy.world
  6. ~~Octopath Traveler | Qty 1 | Steam~~ - Winner: @tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip
  7. ~~Tomb Raider Definitive Survivor Trilogy | Qty 2 | Steam~~ - Winner 1: @jeffreyosborne@lemm.ee , Winner 2: @SuperThr33s@sh.itjust.works
  8. ~~Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft | Qty 1 | Steam~~ - Winner: @Kaiserschmarrn@feddit.org

Additional Game Keys donated by an anonymous Lemming

These games come from Humble Bundle, Games Planet, and Fanatical. There is only one key for each of the nine listed below:

  1. Agatha Knife | Steam Product Page
  2. Calico | Steam
  3. Cultures Bundle (Cultures: Northland & Cultures: The Wonder of the World) | Humble Bundle Product Page
  4. ~~Pony Island | Steam~~ - Winner: @Aviandelight@mander.xyz
  5. ~~Sniper Elite 4 - Deluxe | Steam~~ - Winner: @EpicStuff@lemmy.ca
  6. ~~Strange Horticulture | Steam~~ - Winner: @midimalist@lemdro.id
  7. Stronghold Crusader HD | Steam
  8. Valhalla Hills: Two-Horned Helmet Edition | Steam

EU Countries Only (will not activate in any other region):

  1. Two Point Hospital | Steam Product Page
Update Sep 21:
All the games above that aren't striked through are still available.
Will post these either next week or the week after, so I can rest and recover from my cold.
Post will be in [!Giftofgaming@lemmy.world](/c/Giftofgaming@lemmy.world)
Update Sep 8:
The other games listed above did not have anyone enter for them. I will make a new post in [!giftofgaming@lemmy.world](https://lemmy.world/c/giftofgaming)  to giveaway those keys.  The list starts with "Agatha Knife".

How to Enter:

  • Comment on this post with the one game you are interested in.
  • Optional: Post or create a meme that made you laugh and is Safe For Work. NSFW stuff will be deleted.
  • Optional: Share something interesting, fun, and/or cool that happened to you this year. Or share a hobby you picked up, a show you recently watched, the latest game that blew you away, whatever! Just share something fun to read rather than the usual: "Entering for X game, thanks."

Restrictions

  • You can only enter once, and pick only one game.
  • Your Lemmy account must be at least 30 days old and have participated recently in Lemmy/Fediverse.
  • If your account appears to be a bot, troll, spam account, or just a creepy/gross/hateful person, you will not be selected.
  • Moderators of the !PCMasterRace@lemmy.world community are not eligible.

Winner Selection:

  • I will randomly select eligibile winners in this original post.
  • You will be notified via two ways: I will @ mention you and reply on your comment to this post. I will also send you a Private Message on Lemmy.
  • If you are selected, you will have 48 hours to respond to me to claim your eligibility.
  • For transparency, please also reply to my public-facing comment so that others know you received and claimed the game successfully.
  • If I do not get a response from you after 48 hours, you are forfeited and a new winner will be redrawn the next day until all game codes are exhausted.

Deadlines:

  • You must enter by end of day Saturday, August 31, 2024, local time.
  • I will make a new post and start drawing winners the following week.

Disclaimers:

  • This is not a sponsored post of any kind. I purchased these keys myself, with my hard-earned money, exclusively for the sole purpose of this giveaway.
  • The keys activate only on Steam as Retail OEM keys.
  • The keys come only from Green Man Gaming, a legitimate key resller. They do not come from sketchy places like G2A (NEVER, ever do business with companies like G2A or Kinguin).
  • There are other games, donated by a kind, anonymous Lemming that were sourced from other trusted resellers: Fanatical, Games Planet, and Humble Bundle. These codes all activate on Steam, but do note that Two Point Hospital is region-locked to EU countries only.
  • Steam Support: How to activate a Product Key - https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/2A12-9D79-C3D7-F870

Proof:

  1. https://postimg.cc/HrM63Swk
  2. https://postimg.cc/gwPN7vsq
  3. https://postimg.cc/kVKXJdxP

Best of luck! Continue to be kind to each other, and most importantly, be kind to yourself.

Regards,

CatZoomies | PCMR Moderator, on behalf of the moderation team

 

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/17448835

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/17448834

Microsoft asks many Game Pass subscribers to pay more for less

"Launch day access to first-party titles now restricted to $19.99/month 'Ultimate' tier."

 

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/17448834

Microsoft asks many Game Pass subscribers to pay more for less

"Launch day access to first-party titles now restricted to $19.99/month 'Ultimate' tier."

 

Microsoft asks many Game Pass subscribers to pay more for less

"Launch day access to first-party titles now restricted to $19.99/month 'Ultimate' tier."

1
submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by CatZoomies@lemmy.world to c/memes@lemmy.world
 

no cheating

 

Ubisoft has said the recently released Skull and Bones has achieved “record player engagement” since launch, although it has yet to announce how many copies it’s sold or how many players it has.

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