u/RealTimeTraveller420

I was thinking today after being chased off yet another online space for expressing my first amendment rights (taylor swift is an ec0 terr0rist and also showgirl was an objectively terrible album, but apparently that makes me the misogynist), I was genuinely wondering if folks have done studies as to how many bots stir up drama.

Asking this because I was also reminded of a couple of things: 1) there is literally a bot-led hate campaign against Meghan Markle that is so pervasive, mention her name and something will magically find their way into your replies to spout the same racist bs about her; 2) Johnny Depp famously used bots and used PR firms to perpetuate misinformation about his alleged abuse of Amber Heard; 3) Justin Baldoni Aka the uncanny “Male Feminist” used bots to also perpetuate hate against Plantation American Doll during that whole debacle. I also know that bots are frequently also used to help with political campaigns, promote pro-genocide propaganda, y’all know the drill. And we also all know how much certain recently minted trillionaire losers love using bots to make himself feel like people actually like him for him (nobody does, not even his real fans). And last but not least, we’re all pretty aware of the dead internet theory at this point.

Which is why I ask: has there been a long term measurement of how much of the activity surrounding Ms. Ec0 Terr0rist Barbie is actually organic? Because frankly, I would not put it past her. I doubt it’s all of them but I imagine there must be at least a good number of Swiftie bots out there. But I also wouldn’t be surprised to hear there isn’t much and it really is all organic. But sometimes I run into people online and the behavior is brigadey, sure, but sometimes it seems too cut & paste...

ETA: Not gonna address the JB shit because I'm tired but if you're gonna DM me angrily please eat a Snickers bar and take your shit to a different sub. I DON'T LIKE EITHER OF THEM but some of y'all have a hard time with that apparently.

https://www.jezebel.com/data-expert-says-most-of-the-pro-baldoni-tweets-are-inorganic

Hi everyone, my name is (definitely, 100%, on my birth certificate) Executive Producer Dick Wolf and while I do executive produce the greatest copaganda brand of all time, I also work part time as some recently down-on-their-luck schmuck who recently discovered they have gout (would not recommend in America especially btw, if you can help it). And if it helps to soothe your hearts, I also have cats (happy to send cat taxes as well). These cats are all orphans, have at least thirteen types of cancer (they get a new cancer every other day or so), had all of their intellectual property stolen from them by brigands (they were held at gunpoint!), and one of them has a particularly life-threatening condition called “being orange”, which the vets I can’t afford say is terminal.

There’s this game that came out recently to mixed reviews that I know will fix all of my problems: Paralives. Why do I think it will fix all of my problems? Well, in truth, it’s because god came to me in a dream (not the Abrahamic god, I’m talking about the spaghetti one) and told me that if I just had this video game from Steam, then god would allow my orange cat to get the braincell, punish the thieves who violently stole my cats’ ideas, and also give all of my cats all the different kinds of treatments there could be for all the different cancers that they have. And while god did not guarantee that it would do this last part, I have hope this also means god will fix the gout.

However, despite all the money I’m swimming in thanks to my hit primetime television brand that may or may not be Emmy Award Winning (don’t look this up), when I tried to buy this game for myself, I found myself unable to purchase this game from Steam due to a severe condition called “I Spent All My Money on Doctor Bills and I Don’t Have Insurance and My Health Issues Are Still Not Any Better”. I tried asking everyone I knew to help me with this situation. Mariska doesn’t answer my calls anymore. Chris keeps butt-dialing AND butt-hanging up on me. Ice Cube only ever replies to me in wide-eyed, neutrally-delivered quips that vaguely sound like questions (and he also keeps asking me about my thoughts on his new rap album, which, Ice, if you’re reading this, great work, it’s gonna restart the East v. West Hip Hop War). All of my friends and family have abandoned me in my time of need — and not because of anything I did. It’s because my cat, who is orange, had badly offended all of them (because he is orange), and he won’t apologize (also because he is orange). I’ve tried explaining this all to everyone who will listen, but after a while they just shrug and say, “Maybe you should ask CBS”. The thing is: I can’t ask CBS. They only want to talk to me if it’s about Law and Order, and Paralives isn’t Law and Order (yet).

I know, I know. What would I, one of the most executives to produce of all time, want to do with a game like Paralives? Well. I’ll tell you: in a hypothetical world in which I am NOT Executive Producer Dick Wolf, I have been an avid gamer since I was a child (literally since I was four) and have a love for all sorts of games, but none have captured my hypothetical heart as much as… the Sims 2 (and 3) did. There were no alternatives to these games at the time, but I played the crap out of these games alongside my other hypothetical favorite video games of all time as a youth (the Mass Effect trilogy, Bioshock 1, Resident Evil, and Ace Combat). After saving the galaxy from robot lobsters, protecting little girls from feral denizens of an underwater city, watching Leon Kennedy’s beautiful ass knife fight with Wesker’s sunglasses, and shooting down Yuktobanians (who always cause trouble) left and right, I would often turn to The Sims when I needed time to forget about my other favorite games and replay them with a clear mind. (Did I mention I also have that same disease Drew Barrymore did in that one movie?)

Imagine my hypothetical surprise, then, when Sims 4 came out. Yes, that was over ten years ago. Yes, I’m still bitter. But that’s a whole ‘nother (hypothetical) rant. This is about Paralives.

Paralives is a game I’ve been wanting for almost a decade (since it was announced some ~7 years ago). Aside from spaghetti god telling me that I need to get Paralives, the fact that I also hate the Sims now is why I want Paralives and not a different life simulator game. It looks like it’s probably already infinitely better than TS4 even though it’s Early Access and, when I was still gainfully employed in my hypothetical, not-Executive-Dick-Wolf life, I was actually supporting the Paralives Patreon. But as we all know, the fire nation attacked, and yada yada, I lost my job while going through a severe illness, blah blah blah, spent all my savings on medical bills, etc., so I had to cancel my support. I’ve been hyped for this game for a while and was initially planning on using my hypothetical savings for this release, as it had been marked on my calendar. But now I can’t. That’s my hypothetical life as someone who isn’t actually Executive Producer Dick Wolf, which I definitely am, so there’s no point in narrating that part. The Sims is how I got all of my ideas for every episode of Law and Order and all its variations thus far, so I’m hoping to keep up the streak with Paralives.

What are the potential boons for you to purchase this game for me?

Well, aside from getting points with the spaghetti god, as the title states, you’ll also have cured my cats of all their ailments. We might even be able to get the lawyers we need to sue the people who stole my cats’ movie ideas. Paralives will also help me come up with new crimes to put on all of the shows I make/executive produce. ON TOP OF THAT, I’ll also put in some calls and pull some strings and you can maybe potentially live out your dreams playing a dead body on one of the many versions of Law and Order that I own/run/executive produce. Or, if you want, you can play a living victim, too, I’m not picky. And if you do REALLY well, you might even get famous because Law and Order has a pretty steady viewership that probably won’t be going away anytime soon. And wouldn’t you want to be famous?

This has been my humble request. With a huge please and thank you for even reading my post. And even if it doesn’t happen, oh well, I tried. Sometimes things don’t work out — a lesson I often teach in my Emmy Award Acknowledged show, Law and Order: CSI: Miami: New York: Criminal Minds: SUV.

STEAM ID: https://steamcommunity.com/id/NepoBaby/

GAME ID: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1118520/Paralives/