By the time they jack up the price the brainrot is already too far gone. You don't remember how to code anymore. You have no choice but to keep paying for tokens. Eventually you end up begging on the streets so you can afford more tokens. You rob a liquor store so you can pay for tokens and end up going to jail, where you go through rehab and are finally free of the need for tokens. But when you get out, you can never quite get rid of the desire for more tokens, always in the back of your mind... This is how you become a silicon junkie hooked on Microsoft.

Yes, a corporation is a device to protect individuals from liability. The fact that companies like Asbestos Corporation and National Gypsum still exist at all is testament to that.

You have to pay for flu vaccines? Wow

It's in their mandate to Be Evil

I treat it like a fun game. The rules are all pretty transparent.

Sometimes it will create an order at an all-time high, and if you're not paying attention you get screwed.
Other times you can get a great deal if you get an all-time low + 15% off.
Also it's worth mentioning that they do send you an email notifying you of a price change.

If you're obsessively frugal, it can be worth it to cancel and create a new subscription mid-month if you monitor the prices of your most frequently purchased items to capture a low price.

There's also a little loophole: you can still cancel your order after the cutoff, as long as you do it before it ships. I think you still maintain your discount on your other orders this way. So if you only want 1 item, you could subscribe to 4 other items to get the maximum discount, then cancel the other orders and only keep the one you want. You should maintain the discount on the 1 item you wanted. They won't modify the order retroactively after it was created, at least the last time I checked, YMMV.

I wouldnt say it was "Sorted Out" - I had to sell my home - it was that or end up bankrupt and homeless - and still unable to work due to the burnout it caused. The house sale was traumatic in itself and i had to borrow off family until it the sale completed. The positive i suppose was that we had enough to just about clear the mortgage and move to a cheaper home in Wales. Though - it has no kitchen and needs a lot of work doing to be properly liveable. An amazing view though and no mortgage or rent to pay.

Gamers are a fickle bunch and speaking as someone from inside the industry there are still some that can be very mouthy and entitled when they dont get what they want. Larger companies with public IPO also have the press to deal with - bad news affects share price. There are certain dates throughout the year eg : christmas , easter and other public holidays where new updates and releases are expected. Things cant go out the door buggy, and if they do the punters get upset and the press report it. If features get cut to meet deadlines that doesnt pan out well either. All of these things are a sign of bad management and planning but also sometimes shit does just happen. I dont know if what the solution is to appeasing all the expectations of gamers and the press - but Im personally a beleiver in promising less and delivering more. Crunch culture sucks, it burns out developers fast - were usually not paid proper overtime and free pizza and cake isnt healthy doesnt make up for the long nights time after time Over time that gets refelected in the product.

Just chiming in - I went through a year long ideal , also in the games industry i worked for the company in the UK that make a well known space exploration and trading game. Id been there nearly 11 yrs. Covid and lockdowns provided a stock surge 10x the current price. When the bubble broke they had a management reshuffle - and shed over 200 people. Similar problems with the return to work policy also. I can only assume that since id been there so long the payout would have been quite sizeable - thats when they tried to sideline me and bully me out - I fought them with IWGB for over a year, there were discrimination issues due to my disablity which they were exploiting. IWGB helped me get a settlement, i could have got more but the year long fight burned me out (im still in burnout) and i couldnt stick it any longer to take it to a tribunal. Just wanna say - even if your company doesnt officially recognise unions , you are still legally protected and if you find yourself in an unfair situation its well worth having them by your side - you are entitled to have them represent you in any meetings and there isnt much your employer can do about it.

Profit over people? Say it ain't so!

Come on, she's a mere millionaire. Now she's got to waste all that hard-earned money on lawyers.

There ain't no justice, I tells ya...

It doesn't matter what the price is, this is the only way to get real money out of the Steam economy. After selling all those CS2 skins for insane amounts, you buy a Steam Deck and hock it for cash. Of course it's going to sell out.

All Input Is Evil

So they just have to incorporate the phrase "not produced with AI" somewhere in the video and it'll be undetectable.

It sounds cooler than "baddies"

I, for one, can't wait to be able to lie back and have a movie generated for me on demand. I don't think I'd even need to give a very specific prompt: they should have enough tracking data about me to know what I like. Maybe they can even insert uncannily specific product placements for me to enjoy, so as not to break immersion. Afterwards, I can discuss the movie with my AI chatbots and fulfill my socialization needs.

What a lonely future we have planned.