Stop Killing Games: Wrap up

[Erasmus Roterodamnsus]

And only 21 hours after upload. I was occupied, so these are later than I like, but here you are, with positioning data.

WEBVTT

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Hey!

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This video is a bit awkward,
since a little over a month ago,

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I made one called
"The end of Stop Killing Games",

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and this is a wrap up
to Stop Killing Games.

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In my defense, when I made that,

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I really did think
that was close to the end

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for what Stop Killing Games
could influence.

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But since we didn't
accomplish everything,

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I wanted to go down swinging.

00:00:24.147 --> 00:00:26.424
Well, through dumb luck,

00:00:26.424 --> 00:00:30.044
that video swung so hard,
it changed the timeline.

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So now I should probably
do a different one.

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Just to let people know upfront,
this video isn't that important.

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It's going to go over various things,
but nothing earth-shattering.

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Yeah, in fact, let's get the
important stuff out of the way.

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It's only a few things.

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If you're in the EU,

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you can still contact members

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of European Parliament

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to support

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the Stop Destroying Videogames initiative.

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And you and people from several
other European countries

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can add a comment
to the Digital Fairness Act,

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asking politely if they
can add protections

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from publishers destroying
video games you've already paid for.

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And I guess if you're in the UK,

00:01:07.974 --> 00:01:10.480
you can still contact
members of Parliament

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to support the government petition
to stop destroying games there.

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Though, I won't lie,
the UK situation is a lot iffier.

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Finally, this one's
a shot in the dark,

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but I've been advised if anyone has
connections to the EU Commission,

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specifically mid-level admin workers,
that could be very helpful.

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You can contact me,

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or the official spokesperson.

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His contact info

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is on the initiative page.

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Okay, that's it.

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Nothing else I'm going to say here
really matters much,

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so if you want to
stop watching, that's fine.

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I guess, first off,

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thanks to everyone who's assisted
with the Stop Killing Games campaign,

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or is still helping.

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It's involved literally millions
of people at this point.

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On one hand, I'm really glad
we got the help we needed.

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On the other, I still can't shake
the feeling of how stupid this all is.

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Not people helping, but that we have
to fight for any of this to begin with.

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The issue of not destroying games
that people have already paid for

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in a business bigger than the
film and music industry combined

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when the whole thing is
entirely preventable

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has always struck me as crazy.

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I still view this like fighting for the
right to have plumbing in your home,

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or to demand that bread you buy
shouldn't be filled with sawdust.

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And no, not just a label telling you
that your bread contains sawdust.

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There is such a thing as minimum
standards for many products.

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So this entire movement has never been
a calling for me, and still isn't.

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It's more like this
particular practice

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has annoyed me way more
than the average person,

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and I just want it to go away

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so I can spend my time on
things I'd rather be doing.

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However, through dumb luck,

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I've been in a unique position
to attempt to end this practice,

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and I knew I would feel
like a giant hypocrite

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if I didn't give it my best shot.

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So I guess first

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why don't we go over
what that shot has looked like,

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and how effective it's been.

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Let's pull up the old
battle plans again.

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Okay, so here are the original plans,

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but new options
opened up along the way.

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So, here's the updated version.

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And rather than go over everything,

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I made a key showing
the state of each attempt.

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I'm rating this by two metrics:

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Did we accomplish what we set out to do,
and how effective was that?

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Well, on the first metric,
we've actually done amazing.

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We have maximized our chances

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to push back against the
issue of games being destroyed

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on almost every front.

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That's incredible.

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I wouldn't have predicted
we would have gotten this far.

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In fact, I'd say the only place we
outright failed to launch was Brazil.

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It was looking promising,

00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:49.040
but we ran into a wall where
the law firm needed more data

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on how many copies of
<i>The Crew</i> were sold in Brazil,

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and we just weren't able to find it.

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So, bummer about that,

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but I think it wasn't the most
pivotal country in this either.

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I think France, Germany, Australia,

00:04:01.401 --> 00:04:04.560
and the EU as a whole
are the heavyweights in this.

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As long as we get a major market
prohibiting game destruction,

00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:10.240
I think we'll largely
win this globally.

00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:13.847
But what about the second metric:
how effective this all was?

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Well, some were outright failures,

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some of which were kind of expected,

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but by and large,
we still don't know.

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All the consumer agencies
are still investigating this.

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The Digital Fairness Act
is still accepting comments.

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Hell, even for the
European Citizens' Initiative,

00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:33.600
we still don't know if we actually
got enough valid signatures.

00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:35.520
Though, I think we probably did.

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So, as you can see,

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a whole lot of the campaign
now involves waiting.

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And government does not move quickly.

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But seriously,

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I think we've done about as well as is
humanly possible, given the landscape,

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especially considering that
I'm just a friggin' YouTuber!

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I think all this stuff we've
launched are our best shots.

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I don't see lots of new stuff
on the horizon later.

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I think we either win
on at least one of these,

00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:02.800
or if they all fail, then it's over.

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Besides the Digital Fairness Act,

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the only big one I think
I still have any influence over

00:05:07.840 --> 00:05:10.200
is the European Citizens' Initiative.

00:05:10.200 --> 00:05:12.960
However, since the
signing period is over,

00:05:12.960 --> 00:05:15.520
we're entering a phase where
things like counter-lobbying

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and political connections
are most important.

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And frankly, that is
not my department.

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I know <i>nothing</i> about that.

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Though, some political insiders do,

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and they're advising
the official organizers.

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I'm not even aware
of all their plans,

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but even if I was, I probably
wouldn't say what they're up to.

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Ever since the industry took
a shot at us with fabricated claims,

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I've been acting a little bit
like I've been Mirandized.

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So, on some parts of this,
I may be very quiet,

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since I know <i>someone</i>
is trying to use that against us.

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If the insiders have requests for me,
I'll probably follow them,

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but this is turning into a game
I'm not qualified to play.

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I am qualified to encourage
people to sign a form.

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That's more within my skillset.

00:06:01.840 --> 00:06:03.820
I don't have a timetable
on the initiative,

00:06:03.820 --> 00:06:05.920
since some of it is
out of our control,

00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:09.200
but it's going to be months down
the line before there's a hearing.

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I probably will be
assisting the organizers

00:06:11.328 --> 00:06:14.994
with notes and talking points for
when they go to the EU Commission.

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Assuming they do.

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I mean, we're probably
safe with the signatures,

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but if we don't have
a million valid ones,

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none of this part matters anyway.

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That's why we have alternate plans
of attack just in case others fail.

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So that's where my mind is at,
but if I confuse people, here:

00:06:31.440 --> 00:06:33.434 line:10%
I made a chart of Ross-vision

00:06:33.434 --> 00:06:35.514 line:10%
on how I see the campaign right now.

00:06:35.514 --> 00:06:37.533 line:10%
That should hopefully clear it up.

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Now, some have asked,

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"Hey, since you're winding down
your end of things on the campaign,

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can you pass the torch on this,
or let the community take over?"

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Yeah. Sure.

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You don't even have
to wait on me, really.

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I actually have someone in mind

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who might be great to lead
or help lead things in the future.

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It's the same person who helped
organize things to contact TV stations,

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and was talking about a possible
watchdog group if the initiative did pass.

00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:04.500
So he's had good ideas.

00:07:04.500 --> 00:07:05.920
As for the community,

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I'm afraid I don't have
a solid plan for that as of yet,

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other than it's being sorted out.

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A lot of people are
helping with that.

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Yeah, in fact, I'm not even
in direct control of the website,

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so it may be outdated for a few days

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while the person who does
maintain it is working on it.

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Now, I am pessimistic
on how much we can do

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beyond the action we've
already put into play,

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but I'm of course in
favor of people continuing

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Stop Killing Games-related
things if they want.

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Speaking of related things,

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I've received a lot of
questions about the current

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Steam and Itch censorship
going on right now.

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I am not an expert on that,

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but I can talk about
how it relates to us.

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I have some good news
and some bad news,

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and I think some more good news.

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The good news is if
a storefront removed your game,

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and gave you no ability to back it up

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and continue running it
without further support,

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then that is exactly the situation
Stop Killing Games is trying to address.

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We've been mostly focused on games

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that have the online dependency
built into the game,

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but if a store gave you no notice
before removing your game,

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then yeah, it's the same problem,
just a different flavor.

00:08:12.761 --> 00:08:15.860
The game you paid for
was taken from you!

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Now, stores could still remove
access to games you paid for,

00:08:18.960 --> 00:08:21.997
but they would have to give you
30 days' notice or something,

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<i>and</i> the ability to back it up
and keep running the game

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before something like
that would be okay.

00:08:27.520 --> 00:08:29.920
So, while we can't address
this situation now,

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because again, government
moves really slowly,

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what we're doing

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could partially protect against
situations like this in the future.

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Now, the bad news is
Stop Killing Games

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would do nothing to prevent
companies from delisting games.

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That's because to solve that,

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you'd have to create law mandating
stores keep selling games.

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That seems unreasonable
and unrealistic.

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We're also not addressing

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Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal's grip
on entire world commerce,

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because that sounds like
a way, <i>way</i> bigger scope

00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:04.466
than anything I could ever deal with.

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One of the reasons
Stop Killing Games has made it so far

00:09:07.680 --> 00:09:11.440
is because there are gaps in the law
on the issue of game destruction.

00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:16.720
We're shining a flashlight on a practice
that may <i>already</i> be illegal.

00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:18.960
I can't even imagine
where you would start

00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:22.486
with trying to rein in
payment processors.

00:09:22.486 --> 00:09:26.560
That said, this censorship problem
has gotten a lot of attention.

00:09:26.560 --> 00:09:29.520
So hopefully smarter and more
experienced people than myself

00:09:29.520 --> 00:09:31.840
know how to push back against this.

00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:33.360
But even if they don't,

00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:36.880
I think this is a problem
that will solve itself over time.

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That's because both
players and publishers

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want to buy and sell the games
that are being censored.

00:09:42.640 --> 00:09:45.866
So that means there's real
market pressure to find a solution.

00:09:45.866 --> 00:09:49.520
In fact, I bet there's a startup
frantically trying to fill the gap

00:09:49.520 --> 00:09:52.240
that credit card companies
are leaving them right now,

00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:55.360
because there's so much money
being left on the table for them.

00:09:55.360 --> 00:09:58.640
If you bet on companies
wanting to make lots of money,

00:09:58.640 --> 00:10:00.560
you're rarely disappointed.

00:10:00.560 --> 00:10:03.401
I also think this situation
points out how hollow

00:10:03.401 --> 00:10:08.514
the alternative "solutions"
you sometimes see suggested are,

00:10:08.514 --> 00:10:13.214
like "clear labeling"
or "voting with your wallet."

00:10:13.214 --> 00:10:18.170
In both cases, those do not
save the games you want to keep.

00:10:18.170 --> 00:10:20.850
It's the same for
censored games also.

00:10:20.850 --> 00:10:22.271
Voting with your wallet

00:10:22.271 --> 00:10:27.066
only helps if the game is allowed
to exist in the first place.

00:10:27.066 --> 00:10:29.188
So, Stop Killing Games
would only help with

00:10:29.188 --> 00:10:32.560
part of this censorship
situation in the future,

00:10:32.560 --> 00:10:36.000
but it's certainly compatible
with people trying to do more.

00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:38.400
Okay, speaking of the future,

00:10:38.400 --> 00:10:40.400
I think what we've done
with Stop Killing Games

00:10:40.400 --> 00:10:42.800
has actually changed the timeline,

00:10:42.800 --> 00:10:44.800
or is attempting to.

00:10:44.800 --> 00:10:47.600
As someone who's been
at ground zero on this,

00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:50.240
I thought it might be fun to compare
what would still be happening

00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:52.640
if the movement had never happened.

00:10:52.640 --> 00:10:54.667
First, let's look
at the battle plans.

00:10:54.667 --> 00:10:58.020
How many of these would still
be happening without us?

00:10:58.020 --> 00:11:00.377
Oh, yeah.
Nothing!

00:11:00.377 --> 00:11:02.514
None of this would be happening!

00:11:02.514 --> 00:11:06.960
Stop Killing Games is taking credit
for getting <i>all</i> of this rolling.

00:11:06.960 --> 00:11:08.160
If you don't believe me,

00:11:08.160 --> 00:11:11.440
I encourage you to look at any news
related to saving your games

00:11:11.440 --> 00:11:14.160
prior to January 2024.

00:11:14.160 --> 00:11:15.977
I feel certain, without us,

00:11:15.977 --> 00:11:18.181
<i>The Crew</i> would have been
just another shutdown,

00:11:18.181 --> 00:11:24.080
like <i>Darkspore</i>, <i>BattleForge</i>,
<i>PlanetSide</i>, <i>Asheron's Call</i>, <i>Dust 514</i>.

00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:26.560
I mean, if any game was going
to get people motivated,

00:11:26.560 --> 00:11:28.560
I would think it would be <i>Overwatch</i>.

00:11:28.560 --> 00:11:30.828
It sold over 50 million copies,

00:11:30.828 --> 00:11:32.034
was destroyed,

00:11:32.034 --> 00:11:35.600
and people just accepted it,
best I can tell.

00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:38.960
I think it didn't have the same
legal openings that <i>The Crew</i> did,

00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:43.520
but there wasn't an upswell that
led to any big action that I'm aware of.

00:11:43.520 --> 00:11:45.760
I think if we hadn't
acted when we did,

00:11:45.760 --> 00:11:48.240
then game destruction
would just continue as usual,

00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:52.597
the same way it did in
2023, 2022, and so on.

00:11:52.597 --> 00:11:57.007
I really believe this movement
was our only chance on this.

00:11:57.007 --> 00:11:59.200
Oh, sure, there would be
other game shutdowns,

00:11:59.200 --> 00:12:01.280
but then people would
just accept them too,

00:12:01.280 --> 00:12:03.760
like they're some sort of
law of nature.

00:12:03.760 --> 00:12:05.977
Hell, some still do.

00:12:05.977 --> 00:12:09.680
You know, I never expected a
<i>Penny Arcade</i> comic on this,

00:12:09.680 --> 00:12:12.240
but I love the write-up
underneath it:

00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:16.160
"What we've been conditioned to
believe is normal simply isn't."

00:12:16.160 --> 00:12:19.877
"The purpose of the campaign is
to give you what you already own."

00:12:19.877 --> 00:12:22.160
"It's a bizarre state of affairs."

00:12:22.160 --> 00:12:24.960
The part about
conditioning is so true.

00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:25.988
From my perspective,

00:12:25.988 --> 00:12:27.900
it's felt like <i>lots</i> of gamers

00:12:27.900 --> 00:12:30.880
have gotten brainwashed
on this over the years.

00:12:30.880 --> 00:12:34.950
I really feel like we're defying the odds
by getting people to wake up.

00:12:34.950 --> 00:12:38.400
So what didn't we change
related to game ownership?

00:12:38.400 --> 00:12:40.100
Well, there's a few things.

00:12:40.100 --> 00:12:43.840
That bill in California doubling down
and saying you own nothing,

00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:45.620
but that there should be clear labels

00:12:45.620 --> 00:12:48.100
about you owning nothing
would still have passed.

00:12:48.100 --> 00:12:51.966
That was mostly from Sony pulling
movies off its platform, not us.

00:12:51.966 --> 00:12:55.760
The court case against Ubisoft in the US
might still have gone through.

00:12:55.760 --> 00:12:59.200
It depends on how motivated the
plaintiffs were by the movement or not.

00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:01.561
I unfortunately think
that case has no chance

00:13:01.561 --> 00:13:03.920
of stopping the practice
of game destruction,

00:13:03.920 --> 00:13:05.600
but we weren't behind that one.

00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:09.267
Server emulator attempts on <i>The Crew</i>
would still be happening without us,

00:13:09.267 --> 00:13:10.160
thankfully.

00:13:10.160 --> 00:13:11.688
The US copyright office

00:13:11.688 --> 00:13:14.787
would still have rejected the
Video Game History Foundation's attempt

00:13:14.787 --> 00:13:18.633
to get extremely meager
exemptions to the DMCA.

00:13:18.633 --> 00:13:21.120
And yeah, I think that's about it.

00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:23.781
We can take credit for pretty
much everything else related

00:13:23.781 --> 00:13:27.854
to pushing back against game
destruction from 2024 onward,

00:13:27.854 --> 00:13:30.000
unless you think that
<i>Concord</i> is the spark

00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:32.400
that would have rallied
everyone to push back.

00:13:32.400 --> 00:13:33.547
Or hey, <i>Anthem</i>.

00:13:33.547 --> 00:13:35.066
That too.

00:13:35.066 --> 00:13:38.720
So, yeah, we're on
a different timeline now!

00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:39.833
It feels weird!

00:13:40.833 --> 00:13:44.240
Okay, and here's the part
nobody is going to like.

00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:47.933
I have been exhausted almost
every day for over a month now.

00:13:47.933 --> 00:13:50.541
This is what I'm looking like
almost all the time now

00:13:50.541 --> 00:13:52.233
when I'm not on camera.

00:13:52.233 --> 00:13:56.400
I know a lot of people found out about
Stop Killing Games just recently,

00:13:56.400 --> 00:13:59.920
but I've been going at it hard
for over a year and a half now,

00:13:59.920 --> 00:14:03.600
and I wasn't exactly
well-rested prior to that.

00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:05.680
When I made the first end video,

00:14:05.680 --> 00:14:07.890
I thought I would get
a break afterwards.

00:14:07.890 --> 00:14:08.800
Nope.

00:14:08.800 --> 00:14:10.877
It's been unending overtime,

00:14:10.877 --> 00:14:13.920
because like <i>hell</i> I was
going to miss the opportunity

00:14:13.920 --> 00:14:15.853
to actually turn this around.

00:14:15.853 --> 00:14:18.560
But man, I am feeling it.

00:14:18.560 --> 00:14:20.270
There's been something
that has to be done

00:14:20.270 --> 00:14:22.960
every waking moment since then.

00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:24.800
And I have no room
to complain, either.

00:14:24.800 --> 00:14:27.131
I'm the one who
brought this on myself.

00:14:27.131 --> 00:14:28.000
Well, no,

00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:30.160
the industry brought
this on all of us,

00:14:30.160 --> 00:14:32.737
but I'm the one who decided
to get in front of it.

00:14:32.737 --> 00:14:33.834
But since I have,

00:14:33.834 --> 00:14:37.200
I have been getting
worn the hell down.

00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:38.640
This may sound crazy,

00:14:38.640 --> 00:14:41.120
but I'm actually at a point
where I'm becoming numb

00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:43.280
as to whether we even win or not.

00:14:43.280 --> 00:14:45.164
If we win, great.

00:14:45.164 --> 00:14:48.080
If we lose, but I still
gave it my best effort,

00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:49.600
I can live with that.

00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:51.406
But what would drive me crazy

00:14:51.406 --> 00:14:55.760
is losing because I dropped the ball
on something I could obviously fix.

00:14:55.760 --> 00:14:59.200
For example, if a regulator
gets bribed by the industry,

00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:01.266
I have no influence on that.

00:15:01.266 --> 00:15:04.160
But telling people there's a way
for our issue to be a rider

00:15:04.160 --> 00:15:08.001
on the Digital Fairness Act
if enough people comment on it,

00:15:08.001 --> 00:15:12.800
yeah, that is totally something I kind
of had to do to maximize our chances.

00:15:12.800 --> 00:15:15.955
So I kind of either need
to win or be defeated.

00:15:15.955 --> 00:15:18.560
In between just doesn't work for me.

00:15:18.560 --> 00:15:22.800
I mean, even if we lose,
I want everyone involved to own it.

00:15:22.800 --> 00:15:23.914
So, if the EU says

00:15:23.914 --> 00:15:27.360
there's no problem with publishers
killing games you paid for,

00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:28.160
fine.

00:15:28.160 --> 00:15:30.500
I want to hear them say
that terms like these

00:15:30.500 --> 00:15:33.633
are considered legal
and completely fair

00:15:33.633 --> 00:15:36.400
under Directive 93/13/EEC,

00:15:36.400 --> 00:15:39.200
which is supposed to protect
consumers against unfair terms

00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:41.120
and mass-produced contracts.

00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:42.301
If consumer protections

00:15:42.301 --> 00:15:45.280
never really existed for
video games this whole time,

00:15:45.280 --> 00:15:48.000
and the EU Commission
wants to keep it that way,

00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:51.680
then let's hear them say it
so the whole world knows.

00:15:51.680 --> 00:15:54.400
They could have saved me
a lot of time and effort.

00:15:54.400 --> 00:15:58.133
I think there's a serious chance
we could win though, somewhere.

00:15:58.133 --> 00:16:02.000
Anyway, I've said before
I've kind of hated doing all of this.

00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:05.160
It's just been a competing scale
of knowing I would hate myself more

00:16:05.160 --> 00:16:07.401
if I quit at a critical juncture.

00:16:07.401 --> 00:16:11.280
Well, I'm just about through
the most critical junctures.

00:16:11.280 --> 00:16:12.640
Oh, there's more left,

00:16:12.640 --> 00:16:15.520
but not ones I know
how to influence much.

00:16:15.520 --> 00:16:16.666
My goal on all of this

00:16:16.666 --> 00:16:21.280
has always been to get in,
hit as hard as I can, then get out.

00:16:21.280 --> 00:16:24.480
The "getting out" part is taking
longer than I would have wanted,

00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:26.480
but that's still the plan.

00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:29.440
I want to be done with this so badly.

00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:32.800
I don't think a clean break
is really possible for me yet.

00:16:32.800 --> 00:16:36.880
Even as I say this, I still have
days of campaign work I'm behind on.

00:16:36.880 --> 00:16:39.440
But as soon as I start
to get on top of things,

00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:42.080
my plan is to be on a standby break,

00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:45.057
where if something important happens
where I need to do something,

00:16:45.057 --> 00:16:47.690
yeah, I'll drop everything and do it.

00:16:47.690 --> 00:16:52.080
Otherwise, I want out as soon
as it won't cause things to implode.

00:16:52.080 --> 00:16:54.000
If you work past a certain point,

00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:56.480
you kind of stop caring
about everything,

00:16:56.480 --> 00:16:58.233
or at least I do.

00:16:58.233 --> 00:17:02.584
Right now, I feel like I want to
take a break for the next 10 years.

00:17:02.584 --> 00:17:05.760
I probably don't need to,
or can't, really.

00:17:05.760 --> 00:17:07.440
Maybe I only need a couple days.

00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:09.300
I have no way of telling anymore.

00:17:09.300 --> 00:17:12.543
You know that life-draining machine
from <i>The Princess Bride</i>?

00:17:12.543 --> 00:17:16.100
Yeah, I feel like I might have had
a round or two on that.

00:17:16.100 --> 00:17:19.360
Ironically, I haven't
had time to play <i>a game</i>

00:17:19.360 --> 00:17:21.600
for close to a couple months now.

00:17:21.600 --> 00:17:26.240
I admit, part of me just wants to play
games for days, and not look back.

00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:27.801
I'm reminded of an <i>Onion</i> article

00:17:27.801 --> 00:17:29.680
talking about how you
could just stop working

00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:31.920
and play video games until
you run out of money,

00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:33.214
and get evicted.

00:17:33.214 --> 00:17:35.333
My mind has gone there before.

00:17:35.333 --> 00:17:38.100
So, assuming I get my
life force back at some point,

00:17:38.100 --> 00:17:40.560
which I probably will, I don't know,

00:17:40.560 --> 00:17:43.360
I've noticed recently
I have a lot of new viewers,

00:17:43.360 --> 00:17:46.337
so I should probably
talk some about this channel.

00:17:46.337 --> 00:17:50.400
This whole thing with Stop Killing Games
has been one giant detour for me.

00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:53.920
It's not what I want to spend my time on
any more than necessary.

00:17:53.920 --> 00:17:56.880
Now, things could easily change,
but at this moment,

00:17:56.880 --> 00:18:00.080
I have no plans to make more
videos on Stop Killing Games,

00:18:00.080 --> 00:18:02.480
because so much is underway now.

00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:05.680
Now, there are all kinds of things
I probably could report on,

00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:07.760
but here's the way I look at it.

00:18:07.760 --> 00:18:10.000
I see news related
to game destruction

00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:12.666
as kind of falling into
one of two categories.

00:18:12.666 --> 00:18:15.360
Some news raises
awareness of the problem,

00:18:15.360 --> 00:18:17.334
but then nothing ever comes from it,

00:18:17.334 --> 00:18:18.800
nobody does anything,

00:18:18.800 --> 00:18:20.960
and the problem just gets worse.

00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:24.800
This is the kind I did without
realizing it nine years off and on

00:18:24.800 --> 00:18:26.400
leading up to the campaign.

00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:29.990
Every video I've made
on this subject prior to 2024

00:18:29.990 --> 00:18:32.480
never amounted to a damn thing.

00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:33.734
Now, the other category

00:18:33.734 --> 00:18:36.720
points to some sort of
obvious action to be taken,

00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:38.320
so people do something,

00:18:38.320 --> 00:18:40.400
and that can change the situation.

00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:43.041
A good chunk of the coverage
I've done on Stop Killing Games

00:18:43.041 --> 00:18:44.700
has been an attempt at that.

00:18:44.700 --> 00:18:47.760
See, I don't care about
reporting the news.

00:18:47.760 --> 00:18:50.080
I care about games
not being destroyed.

00:18:50.080 --> 00:18:52.480
The news was just a means to an end.

00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:55.520
So, since I have a lot
of new subscribers lately,

00:18:55.520 --> 00:18:57.501
if you came here
expecting a lot more news

00:18:57.501 --> 00:18:59.727
on dead games and the campaign,

00:18:59.727 --> 00:19:03.760
eh, you're probably going to be
disappointed and should unsubscribe.

00:19:03.760 --> 00:19:06.960
I'm only interested
in category two now.

00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:09.701
In my eyes, the important
part is what we're doing,

00:19:09.701 --> 00:19:11.900
not how often I'm talking about it.

00:19:11.900 --> 00:19:13.994
And <i>this</i> is what we've been doing.

00:19:13.994 --> 00:19:16.400
<i>This</i> is the part
that counts for something.

00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:18.034
I know this is going to upset people,

00:19:18.034 --> 00:19:19.200
but it's like I said,

00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:23.107
you work past a certain point,
you stop caring about everything.

00:19:23.107 --> 00:19:26.160
Maybe I'll be more open-minded
once I'm less burned out,

00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:29.440
but this campaign stuff
is not a new direction for the channel.

00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:31.200
This is all temporary.

00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:34.720
So, that may leave you wondering,
what the hell is this channel then?

00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:37.120
Well, normally it's a few things.

00:19:37.120 --> 00:19:40.960
The big thing I was doing prior to this
was <i>Ross's Game Dungeon</i>,

00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:42.960
where it's sort of
a game review show,

00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:46.080
but kind of targeted to something
you might watch late at night,

00:19:46.080 --> 00:19:48.640
when you're wondering
what you're doing with your life.

00:19:48.640 --> 00:19:51.033
I think that's my target audience.

00:19:51.033 --> 00:19:53.267
The last episode, <i>Sabotain</i>,

00:19:53.267 --> 00:19:56.320
is actually pretty representative
of what to expect,

00:19:56.320 --> 00:19:58.480
though some can be much shorter.

00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:03.120
If you like that, then yes,
you probably should stay subscribed.

00:20:03.120 --> 00:20:06.080
I've also been meaning
to continue <i>Freeman's Mind</i>,

00:20:06.080 --> 00:20:09.840
where I narrate the thoughts of
Gordon Freeman from <i>Half-Life</i>.

00:20:09.840 --> 00:20:14.000
That one's kind of a runaway experiment
that's been taking me too long to do,

00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:16.000
but people still seem to want it.

00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:19.047
Now, what I've done in the past
and would like to get back to

00:20:19.047 --> 00:20:23.166
are original comedy shorts using
a game engine to animate the scenes.

00:20:23.166 --> 00:20:25.920
Most of these were a series
called <i>Civil Protection</i>,

00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:27.734
which is set in the <i>Half-Life 2</i> world

00:20:27.734 --> 00:20:29.900
created with its
software development kit.

00:20:29.900 --> 00:20:32.480
I also did one short
in Source Filmmaker,

00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:34.720
which is a whole
different kind of pain.

00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:37.533
I've had other one-off
original shorts also.

00:20:37.533 --> 00:20:40.640
They're almost all comedy
or comedy-adventure.

00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:41.680
I like directing,

00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:45.040
but I kind of hate animating,
it's such a time sync.

00:20:45.040 --> 00:20:48.930
Though it's probably getting easier
with more tools available nowadays,

00:20:48.930 --> 00:20:52.000
especially since I'm not
aiming for Pixar quality.

00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:54.880
I care way more
about writing and acting.

00:20:54.880 --> 00:20:56.320
I doubt I'll hit it,

00:20:56.320 --> 00:20:57.600
but my ideal look

00:20:57.600 --> 00:21:01.120
would be something like the in-game
cutscenes from <i>StarCraft II</i>,

00:21:01.120 --> 00:21:05.280
where it's obvious it's a game engine,
but the animation still looks great.

00:21:05.280 --> 00:21:08.400
Now, I should warn people, I am slow.

00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:10.720
You know how most movies
take a couple years to make

00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:13.280
because a lot of effort
goes into making them?

00:21:13.280 --> 00:21:16.424
That workflow is a lot more
compatible with my brain,

00:21:16.424 --> 00:21:19.120
but that is not how
things work on YouTube,

00:21:19.120 --> 00:21:22.000
which wants new videos constantly.

00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:23.760
See, if I was smart,

00:21:23.760 --> 00:21:26.000
I would just make
short commentary videos,

00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:27.600
get way more views and income,

00:21:27.600 --> 00:21:30.400
and not bother with trying
to make something more creative.

00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:34.200
But my instincts just tell me
that is not what I should be doing.

00:21:34.200 --> 00:21:38.400
I also do monthly streams with viewers
where I just answer questions,

00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:40.800
but those aren't
really worth watching.

00:21:40.800 --> 00:21:42.801
They're more just
a proof-of-life thing,

00:21:42.801 --> 00:21:43.920
since in the past,

00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:47.280
viewers would constantly make comments
about whether I was dead or not,

00:21:47.280 --> 00:21:49.760
and now they don't say that so much.

00:21:49.760 --> 00:21:52.000
Though, I think I'm going
to change that a little bit,

00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:54.200
and start posting those
on my secondary channel,

00:21:54.200 --> 00:21:56.720
AccursedFarmsJunk instead.

00:21:56.720 --> 00:21:59.800
So hopefully, only videos
I think have some merit to them

00:21:59.800 --> 00:22:01.766
will be on this
channel in the future.

00:22:01.766 --> 00:22:04.960
So those are the plans
for the channel, but before I go,

00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:06.801
this part is a bit selfish of me,

00:22:06.801 --> 00:22:09.440
but it's related to
game preservation.

00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:11.920
Part of the reason I hate
seeing games destroyed

00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:15.120
is because so many
just have fantastic worlds.

00:22:15.120 --> 00:22:16.880
So it's a slap in the face to me

00:22:16.880 --> 00:22:19.533
every time a great one
is destroyed forever.

00:22:19.533 --> 00:22:22.000
Hey, <i>Anthem</i> is due to shut down.

00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:24.101
A bunch of people say
it's not a good game,

00:22:24.101 --> 00:22:25.721
and they're probably right.

00:22:25.721 --> 00:22:27.254
But look at that world!

00:22:27.254 --> 00:22:28.500
That looks pretty cool!

00:22:28.500 --> 00:22:30.560
Of course I would want to see that!

00:22:30.560 --> 00:22:33.600
Too bad EA is dumping
all of this in the trash

00:22:33.600 --> 00:22:36.300
so no one can ever
experience it again.

00:22:36.300 --> 00:22:38.480
This is also why I can get resentful

00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:41.021
towards people trying
to defend this practice.

00:22:41.021 --> 00:22:43.120
It's art destruction!

00:22:43.120 --> 00:22:44.521
And it's preventable.

00:22:44.521 --> 00:22:45.801
Yeah, let's add a label

00:22:45.801 --> 00:22:48.908
saying this world will be
completely destroyed for everyone.

00:22:48.908 --> 00:22:50.733
That solves the problem, right?

00:22:50.733 --> 00:22:54.400
Anyway, I'm rehashing some of
what I talk about in this video,

00:22:54.400 --> 00:22:57.380
but even if we end up
being unable to save games,

00:22:57.380 --> 00:23:00.967
man, I at least want to
save the game worlds.

00:23:00.967 --> 00:23:04.621
Well, I think technology is making
that more and more of a possibility,

00:23:04.621 --> 00:23:07.920
especially with using AI
to extrapolate assets.

00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:10.200
I see there being
a few levels to this.

00:23:10.200 --> 00:23:13.040
The first would just be
a completely static world.

00:23:13.040 --> 00:23:14.401
The second would cover things like

00:23:14.401 --> 00:23:18.240
basic looping animations,
grass swaying, stuff like that.

00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:20.800
Then you would have advanced
or contextual animations

00:23:20.800 --> 00:23:23.040
like NPCs or traffic.

00:23:23.040 --> 00:23:26.160
And I guess the fourth layer
would be mimicking the game itself.

00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:29.600
Though I would still get a lot of value
with even this second layer here.

00:23:29.600 --> 00:23:32.913 line:20%
Some have compared what
I'm asking for to the noclip website.

00:23:32.913 --> 00:23:34.400 line:0
Yeah, that's similar,

00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:37.160
but there are hundreds
of games I want this for,

00:23:37.160 --> 00:23:39.680
especially for games on death row.

00:23:39.680 --> 00:23:42.320
Now, some people may bring up
how there have been AI projects

00:23:42.320 --> 00:23:45.280
to generate gameplay-like
footage in real time,

00:23:45.280 --> 00:23:47.680
like an AI rendition of <i>Quake II</i>,

00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:49.360
or prompts by Google.

00:23:49.360 --> 00:23:52.264
In my opinion, this is
barking up the wrong tree.

00:23:52.264 --> 00:23:56.025
All the footage looks soupy
and has an uncanny valley feeling.

00:23:56.025 --> 00:23:57.747
Instead, they should be using the AI

00:23:57.747 --> 00:24:01.341
to take its best guess generating
the models and textures,

00:24:01.341 --> 00:24:05.440
maybe even entities to be ported
to an engine like Unreal or something.

00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:06.933
Then it could be rendered cleanly

00:24:06.933 --> 00:24:09.680
and not have this creepy
soup vibe to everything,

00:24:09.680 --> 00:24:11.400
or at least a lot less.

00:24:11.400 --> 00:24:15.200
Really, the technology for some
of this I think is here right now.

00:24:15.200 --> 00:24:17.680
But it needs to be
integrated and streamlined,

00:24:17.680 --> 00:24:20.720
because the people willing to go
and plot out these game worlds

00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:23.310
might not be the same
people developing the tools.

00:24:23.310 --> 00:24:24.880
Even with the technology,

00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:28.480
right now there's probably 20 steps
between capturing footage from the game

00:24:28.480 --> 00:24:32.133
and porting an imitation of it inside
an engine you can walk around in.

00:24:32.133 --> 00:24:36.000
Anyway, I just want to encourage
development in this direction.

00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:38.910
I said I'd rather be doing
things besides the campaign.

00:24:38.910 --> 00:24:40.480
Well, this is one of them.

00:24:40.480 --> 00:24:43.733
Be part of a game world
explorer's club.

00:24:43.733 --> 00:24:45.200
So, that's the wrap up.

00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:47.720
Stop Killing Games
is largely underway,

00:24:47.720 --> 00:24:50.240
even though there are
a few things left to do.

00:24:50.240 --> 00:24:53.133
I'm a bit of a burned out
husk because of it,

00:24:53.133 --> 00:24:56.347
but I can keep burning
some more if necessary.

00:24:56.347 --> 00:24:58.094
And yeah, that's it.

00:24:58.094 --> 00:24:58.794
See ya.

00:24:58.794 --> 00:25:00.737
[Subtitles by Erasmus Magnus]

 

[danielsangeo]

Subs up!

[mrglanet]

I think when Ross is speaking about "clear labelling", he's actually saying "clearer labelling". I swear, I hear the extra -er being annunciated at the end.