It is officially Black March

[jmaejr]

Originally Posted by Penforhire

I'm not joining any movement just because a bunch of slacker 20-something script-kiddies are backing it. I did put SOPA boycotts on my blogs for a couple of weeks. But guess what? Raising a fuss worked. Or at least killed the bill in its prior form. So yeah, I do feel all warm and fuzzy about that.

Kinda like the whole OWS movement, slacker 20-something, disgruntled Burger King employees, which was so popular...

Originally Posted by Tony1988

Also the Hunger Games is coming out this month. There goes the Blackout for movies.

My wife said the same thing...I told her she could wait 9 days to see it. It's not like the ending is going to change or anything...

[bgalbrecht]

Originally Posted by jmaejr

My wife said the same thing...I told her she could wait 9 days to see it. It's not like the ending is going to change or anything...

The theater will make more money if she waits 2 weeks to go see it. The first couple of weeks a movie is in the theaters, the studios get something like 90% of the ticket price.

[jmaejr]

Originally Posted by bgalbrecht

The theater will make more money if she waits 2 weeks to go see it. The first couple of weeks a movie is in the theaters, the studios get something like 90% of the ticket price.

The reality is we/she probably won't see it until it hits the dollar theater...that is generally how we see movies in theaters anyway. 3 bucks for 2 tickets, you can't beat that in most cases.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Tony1988

Also the Hunger Games is coming out this month. There goes the Blackout for movies.

Very promising that one.
But I'm already scheduled for next week:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jq3iwYoPE4

I'm really hoping it works and opens the door for other ERB-based projects.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

March is already Read an E-Book Month. We called it before you. Blackout cancelled! (But I think April's free.)

[JoeD]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

It depends on whether or not you believe that the DLC was defined *after* the game went off to final testing. The official story is that the prothean character in the DLC is an NPC in the main game that then becomes playable.

That doesn't bother me. Most DLC will be made by a different team or budgeted separately, I don't really subscribe to the "if it's done before release it should be free and on the disk" line of thought that some do. (as long as it doesn't feel like they made the game then removed a few bits to sell as DLC at the last minute)

What bugs me is the DLC is a character that's the most important in all 3 games and critical in terms of plot, really if you're having such a race playable, it should have been in the game from the off.

If the race had been any other new race, I wouldn't have had the same issue with it, but it's a prothean, something we've been told about all through game 1 and 2

Good point about BAEN, too.
I just picked up a pair of bundles today, too.

I'm not a fan of throwing out the baby with the bathwater and I don't think penalizing the good guys for the sins of others is a good way of protesting.

Same here. Buy from those who have a good track record of not criminalising their customers. Baen is a good example of that. I wouldn't put off buying anything from them.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by JoeD

What bugs me is the DLC is a character that's the most important in all 3 games and critical in terms of plot, really if you're having such a race playable, it should have been in the game from the off.

If the race had been any other new race, I wouldn't have had the same issue with it, but it's a prothean, something we've been told about all through game 1 and 2

I'm keeping an open mind until I see how it plays out.
If the DLC has the Prothean lead you to a mothballed fleet of a million prothean warships I'll be a bit more ticked than if he turns out to be another Zaeed.

As a rule, I don't think most of these "grass-roots" boycotts amount to much.
Don't buy in march, but it'll be okay to buy in april?

Boycott means doing without, not deferring.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Boycott means doing without, not deferring.

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

As a rule, I don't think most of these "grass-roots" boycotts amount to much.

Was there another boycott like this?

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

Was there another boycott like this?

In the gaming world? One every other week, just about.
The latest is, as hinted above, on Mass Effect 3. So far, at least three separately-motivated ones:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/25054...o_boycott.html

http://www.facebook.com/groups/326930108358/

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/foru...igin-I-say-yes

One of them may be tongue in cheek but in the gaming world you never know.

Now, sit back and watch EA/BioWare rake in $300-500 million in a week.

[JoeD]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

I'm keeping an open mind until I see how it plays out.

Likewise. If it's as rumoured though, then I'll pass on the game.

As a rule, I don't think most of these "grass-roots" boycotts amount to much. Don't buy in march, but it'll be okay to buy in april?

Boycott means doing without, not deferring.

Agreed, although I see the "black march" as a protest and not a boycott. I would assume people wish to make a point rather than cut off their nose to spite their face.

I have doubts over the effectiveness though, this thread was the first time I've heard of it and I've been following the SOPA/ACTA news. To even register on the radar let alone have any kind of impact there'd need to be quite a significant amount of support and I can't see that happening without mainstream support.

I'd love to see a DRM protest though where everyone buys DRM free goods only for a month.

[speakingtohe]

I played Skyrim for 4 months dammit.

Helen

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

I played Skyrim for 4 months dammit.

Helen

Why dammit?

I played Morrowind, ME1, Fallout, and Fallout: New Vegas for a year or so each. I only stopped Skyrim a couple weeks ago to a third pass through ME2 in preparation for ME3.

There is lots of stuff to experiment and explore with in those games.
They aren't for people with short attention spans but there's lots of little jewels hidden in them. (I still chuckle at the skeleton I found in a Fallout bathtub, clutching a toaster. Shouldn't have stolen from the boss, Vinnie.)

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

In the gaming world? One every other week, just about.
The latest is, as hinted above, on Mass Effect 3. So far, at least three separately-motivated ones:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/25054...o_boycott.html

http://www.facebook.com/groups/326930108358/

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/foru...igin-I-say-yes

One of them may be tongue in cheek but in the gaming world you never know.

Now, sit back and watch EA/BioWare rake in $300-500 million in a week.

It's like someone saying "don't buy this candy because it's bad for you" with the replies "I know it's bad and I wasn't going to buy it anyway" and "I know it's bad for me, but it tastes so good".

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

It's like someone saying "don't buy this candy because it's bad for you" with the replies "I know it's bad and I wasn't going to buy it anyway" and "I know it's bad for me, but it tastes so good".

That is not what is proposed.
What is on the table is more like "don't buy candy in march" (but you can gorge in april).

It's overly broad, for one thing.
(Sugarless candy is fine; any form of candy in moderation is fine.)
Plus, in the current economy the message is going to be muted anyway.
(Marginally slower sales? Well, with current gas prices a lot of people have less disposable income.)
And, as pointed out: March is Read an E-Book Month and has been for years.

Context matters.
What happens outside the message board world matters.
This particular boycott, at this particular time, probably won't matter much.
(shrug)