u/ShaggerAJSA

I have been playing and really quite enjoying it. I haven't finished it yet, so I'll save my thoughts, but I can't help but get the feeling people are clowning on this game just to clown on IGN.

Even though I haven't finished it yet, I can tell that Mixtape is not perfect and it is certainly not for everyone. I also do see clowning on IGN as a valid life choice, but why bring this game into it? It's not like the developers have any power or even the right to tell IGN what they can and cannot say, be it positive or negative.

The audience for these games I call interactive narratives is niche and have been a frequent target for abuse and dismissal by the wider gaming community since games like Life is Strange and the Telltale games became popular. There is a sure lack of understanding about not just these games, their appeal and the people who play them and why we enjoy them.

So maybe this is just the same old dross that we have been putting with from the so-called "hardcore gamer" for years, but it feels different this time. Like instead of the target, we're the weapon now. It's what we like about these types games being turned on IGN to somehow prove how "out of touch" they are. And I think I like that even less.

Now, if you're all action and challenge when it comes to gaming and that's why you love playing, then that is fine. Good for you, more power to you. You don't need to change for anyone. I don't think anybody could take that away from you even if they wanted to. But can you please not fire you own lack of understanding at games media like a 50 cal because it makes us all look stupid.

Every day, people come to this sub-reddit asking for help because they haven't got what they paid for through G2A. Whether they have not received keys, found the keys they bought to already be used, bought accounts that they can't access, or in their own way have been scammed. We've heard these same stories time and time again.

Don't think I'm letting the sellers nor G2A themselves off the hook here, they are the main problem, but since G2A and these scumbag scam-artists don't care to be any part of the solution, it's down to the buyers to be the solution. There is something better than learning from your mistakes, learning from somebody else's.

So I'm making this thread looking for others to contribute to a set of general advice to users on G2A about what to do and what not to do to avoid being ripped off. So please, tell your stories, offer your advice so we might condense this knowledge into one, hopefully easy to find easy find reddit page. I'll edit the page going forward as often as I can to include new, relevant information.

I'll set the ball rolling with these two.

1. Do your research on a seller before buying.

If they have a habit of scamming people, their name will be out there. It could be here on Reddit, social media as well as G2A customer reviews, but I'm not sure how much I trust those. Whatever avenue you choose, just do the homework.

On a side note, maybe we could have a "bad actors" list on this page? Please let me know what you think.

2. Never buy accounts. Ever. Honestly, if G2A cared, they would ban this practice.

The account login information is not enough. Account transfer is a complicated process that requires access to a seller's personal e-mail or possibly even phone number. Failing that, it would need the seller's their complete coordination to pull off. Without that, it is all too easy for the seller to simply claim the account back and deny you access. Of course, this has happened, but most sellers just save both parties the time and don't even give you the login information in the first place.

If, by some miracle, you do encounter a seller that is both honest and cooperative, you can still assume that account is on borrowed time. It doesn't matter whether it's Steam, EGS, GOG, PlayStation, Microsoft, Nintendo or even non-gaming related things like Adobe, Spotify, Netflix or Amazon. Whoever it is, I can almost guarantee that buying, selling and trading of accounts is against that company's specific Terms of Service (TOS). If you get caught, and you likely will, you can wave that account and all the games, software, movies and music that come with it goodbye. As well as any hope of a refund. Sellers know this.

Please post in the comments anything you would like to see added or even corrected.

They announced the game and it's release date less than two months away from the launch. This is a good example other companies should follow.

I wanted to step away from the controversies surrounding the designs and the remake and focus on something that is not only positive, but tends to get overlooked. And this is a very good thing, and this is why.

Companies all too often follow the trend of announcing the release of games months, sometimes closer to a year before they actually launch. They do this to try an rake in as much from pre-orders as possible.

But I hate this practice! It is real pet-peeve of mine. Not only is this an annoying tease, it's the root cause of so many issues.

Look at Cyberpunk 2077, for example. CDPR took advantage of the fact the world's eye's were on them at E3 2019 to announce the release date that was still a full 10 months away. A game they announced was in development back in 2012, so it had already been a long wait for fans. And then, well, we all know the story. It got delayed again and again before they had to release the game as a broken mess in December 2020 as if that would fix the PR disaster they created for themselves. I know the COVID-19 pandemic played it's part, but the first delay was announced long before Poland (and most of the rest of the world) went into lockdown, so you can't blame the pandemic entirely for this.

The point is there is no way CDPR knew game would be ready for that original release date of April 16, 2020, but announced it anyway. That was a foolish, greedy decision to make and it cost them badly and justly. Sadly, it's not a unique case. Game releases get announced too far in advance and then for whatever reason get delayed or released as a broken mess just to meet the schedule all the time.

Nintendo, on the other hand, got this right. Didn't even confirm this game's existence until they were weeks away from launching. This generated a very helpful and welcome burst of buzz from the fanbase that won't have faded into cynicism by the time the game launches. We know that not everyone was entirely pleased of course (myself included), but whether you like the game or not, it got your attention. Personally, I don't think people should pre-order games at all, but you can pre-order this with confidence that it won't be another Cyberpunk 2077. I'm not suggesting that Star Fox went through development hell, I'm just pointing out that because they waited to announce it until they were at the peek of confidence it would be ready, there is no PR disaster like Cyberpunk 2077 had to endure even if it did go through development hell.

So kudos, Nintendo. You've got your due from me on this one. I still think that it's a mistake to make this another reboot, but they knew what they were doing with this announcement.

I've had this new Asus Nitro 18 with a 2TB SSD for almost two months, but I'm already having to manage drive space constantly. What makes it worse is the Asus got lazy and installed the same firmware on this from a 1TB model, so my 2TB SSD had been effectively slip into two 1TB drives, which makes this all the more difficult. Time to Upgrade.

Here is the exact model and store I bought from for the full details.

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/18-acer-nitro-18-ai-165hz-wqxga-ryzen-ai-9-365-32gb-ddr5-2tb-ssd-12gb-geforce-rtx-5070-ti-usb

I understand this model has an additional M.2 SSD slot. I've got a flexible budget and looking for a minimum of 2TB, but 4TB would be twice as nice, but I realty cant spend much more than £300. Any recommendations of model or even places to shop would be greatly apricated.

I have installed hard drives into laptops and even built PC's before, but this new NVMe tech is less familiar to me. If there are any beginners traps or practical advice on the installation of such things you can offer that would be very welcome.