How NOT to Live Stream

When you're streaming a game on twitch, or any lives tream platform for that matter, people are there to watch you play a game. They aren't there to watch your face, they aren't there to stare at your username and social media links, and they sure as hell aren't there to watch scrolling text of donations and old memes. Now, when you're a stereotypical "gam3r gurl" who gains followers simply by having tits, it can be argued that people are there to watch YOU just as much as they are to watch the game, so yeah, you can have a bit bigger webcam feed. But holy freakin' god do NOT make your webcam feed be nearly as big as your game feed. We don't need to see you, your bed, your floor, your dresser, and your dirty clothes in great detail. Keep it small. And seriously there's plenty of room in your channel description to put all your social media links, putting them up like a billboard just takes up even more space that COULD be used for your game feed.

And no memes. Memes are for losers.

Now, if you want to see a GOOD stream, check this out:

Do you see this? Do you know what this is? This is Dyrus. The Top Laner for Team Solo Mid. One of the biggest names in the ESports scene. One of the best League of Legends players in North America. His stream has nearly a million followers, and over 155 million views. And do you see what he is doing? His webcam feed is small. His social media presence is on-screen but in an organized fashion that takes advantage of the negative space created by his webcam feed. His entire layout is set up in a way that doesn't cover up anything important. And most importantly, HIS GAME FEED IS TAKING UP THE OVERWHELMINGLY VAST MAJORITY OF HIS SCREEN. He knows that people are there to watch him play games. He knows that people are NOT there to watch him, or donor names, or lame memes. People are coming to watch him play League of Legends, so he is showing them League of Legends.

Be like Dyrus.

#TweetLikeAWhiteGay: Social Justice Bigotry

     We've come full circle, ladies and gentlemen. For many months now the "Social Justice Warrior" community has been mocked as a "who's the most oppressed" contest. But now it finally seems like they are proving the mocking to be based in truth. The Social Justice community has for a long time targeted people with their campaign of guilt and harassment against the majority (mainly straight white men) that they perceive to oppressing minorities simply by existing. The SJ crowd has been relentless in attacking anybody part of the majority for anything that they perceive to be "oppression", such as the time Social Justice Warriors harassed the man who landed a probe on a comet for wearing a shirt with sexy women on it that his woman friend made for him, or the time Rebecca Watson flat out supported the collection and distribution of the personal information of people she disagrees with for the purpose of harassing them. These people and their actions create quite a controversy nearly every time they open their mouths. And now, it seems that because they've grown tired of targeting the majority, now they're going to target their own. Hence #TweetLikeAWhiteGay, where white homosexuals have become the latest target. The tag is filled with mocking, fabricated lies, and putting words in the mouths of anybody who happens to be white and gay, all for the purpose of creating the narrative that white's are inherently evil simply because there's more of them in the west. Ironically, there aren't many people of color partaking in this, it's almost all white people partaking in the typical "white guilt" bs.
     It's not enough anymore for Social Justice Warriors to attack the people they claim are oppressing them, now they have to attack the people who they deem aren't oppressed ENOUGH. Gays now have the right to marry in all 50 states of America? Well now they just aren't oppressed enough, and so are free game for the mocking and harassment campaign. It would seem that now the only way you can be gay and NOT be a target for Social "Justice" is by not being white. Because racism is okay as long as the right people do it, because then it's not racism.

     Racism is racism no matter who it's against. "BUT BUT BUT MR. DRAGON RACISM IMPLIES PREJUDICE PLUS POW--" No. Shut the hell up. Racism is prejudice against somebody based on their race. Power has nothing to do with it. You can't take definitions and twist them to suit your agenda. What #TweetLikeAWhiteGay represents is the fact that the radical left is just as capable of being racist, homophobic bigots as the radical right and that is just said. These people have gone so far in to the left wing they have pulled a Pac-Man and come out on the right wing. Social Justice is a disease and this tag is just further proof of that.

     Thankfully, a lot of people seem to agree with me on this, which shows that there may be hope for humanity yet. And humorously, the tag is being flooded with furry pornography in an attempt (that is for the most part succeeding) to derail the tag. Nevertheless, the fact this tag even exists is just a testament to how low the radical left will go to preserve its victim narrative, but anybody with a sane mind can see that they are just a bunch of sad, racist homophobes who can't handle the thought that maybe they aren't as oppressed as they think they are. In the end, the bad ideas always fall and the good ideas will rise to the top and prevail. That's why the internet is such an amazing place, and why Social Justice wants to censor it so badly and turn it in to a "safe space". They know that their ideals are faulty, it's just that they are so loud and obnoxious about pushing their narrative on to everything that the good ideas, the ideas that promote TRUE equality, and TRUE justice, the ideas where EVERYBODY is equal and nobody is oppressed or made to feel like less of a person or mocked for who they are, those ideas are simply being hidden right now while the SJ crowd marches on their doomed crusade. But eventually, they will all be left behind as society marches on without them.

So what is Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade?

     This week saw the Steam Launch of Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade in Early Access, This game has been hyped for some time among the more dedicated Warhammer 40k fans as it is supposed to be the first ever MMO set in the Warhammer universe, which is something fans of the series have been wanting for quite some time. In the few short days since the Early Access launch of Steam, the game has achieved a respectable 80% positive reviews, although that number appears to be moving towards the mid 70's as more and more people are purchasing the game and reviewing it. Regardless, the game has been well received and there are always enough players in-game at any given time to keep matchmaking times relatively low and rooms relatively full. But, all the positivity can be arguably attributed to the popularity of the Warhammer setting and the unwillingness of players to admit that the game is in a poor state. So I am here to answer the question "What is Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade?"

     To answer that question, we must answer it in two parts. What IS it, and what will it BE? Since players will only have experience with what it is right now for the time being, let's answer that first. In its current state, it is a 3rd-person arena shooter with several maps of capture-the-points between the Space Marine and Chaos Marine factions, each with several customizable sub-classes to perform various roles such as vehicle destruction, healing, sniping, setting up machine gun encampments, melee focus, and more. Matches are fast-paced and tense as both teams rush to attack and defend the various points placed throughout the map, with grenades and bolter shots flying through the air. Something I find especially satisfying is simply the movement, as my heavily-armored marine sprints through the battlefield his every footstep is heavy and gives off a deep thud and really gives a sense of presence in the world. However, the game is horribly optimized and even a high-end computer will have trouble running it. I have an AMD 8320, a GTX 970, and 32gb of RAM in my PC and I usually end up with an average of 20fps, although it can drop lower than that during particularly intense moments, while it remains at 45-60fps if there's a lot of distance between me and a major fight. The developers are aware of this bad optimization, however, and fixes are on the way in the near future. It's also quite repetitive as there aren't a lot of maps and there's only one game mode. There also aren't a whole lot of customization options for the classes, although there are enough to provide for at least SOME variation. The community could also be argued as a downside as I've been in numerous games with people on voice chat being extremely rude and needlessly offensive because they're losing or keep getting killed, although that is to be expected from any competitive shooter with a chat function, so Eternal Crusade can't really be faulted for that. All in all, in it's current state it is VERY much an Alpha.

     Now, to answer the question of what it will become. The devs genuinely seem to be on top of this and are determined to bring their vision to life and so I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt on this one and say that despite the games current less-than-impressive state, I am very interested in buying in now and being a part of development. The game will eventually have 4 factions in total, Space Marines, Chaos Marines, Eldar, and Orks. It will be a massive open-world war with a persistent world much like Planetside 2, with instanced PvE co-op content. There will be character progression and customization options that can be unlocked through playing. In the end the game will be a true Warhammer MMO, and it's all just a question of how long will the wait be, and will the developers actually manage to follow through with their promises. Because that's all any of this is right now: promises. Eternal Crusade is a massive undertaking, but I have faith that it will come to fruition in the end. However, that doesn't mean that I can truly recommend this game to any normal gamer. As I said, it its current state it is an un-optimized mess that requires a very high end PC to run, and the vast majority of defining features have not yet been added. It is a game in the early stages of development with a lot of potential and only the most dedicated of Warhammer fans will enjoy it as it is. Even if you aren't willing to take the risk, it is absolutely worth keeping tabs on this game. I haven't had it long enough to really know how regular content updates are, but people claim that they come frequently. And if the game is truly on a steady march towards the end vision, then you might find yourself picking it up sooner rather than later.

Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade can be purchased from Steam now for $49.99 (At the time of writing, there is a 20% discount active) (Enter my referral code EC-0VP1YXEDPMUVS to get bonus points to be spent in the Rogue Trader  shop when it arrives!)

The Microtransaction Dilemma

     Microtransactions are highly prevalent in today's gaming industry, with Triple A titles coming equipped with in-game shops and free-to-play games making their money through the purchase of in-game goodies. Unfortunately, the vast majority of these microtransactions involve pay to win elements, allowing players to purchase an advantage over non-paying users in the form of better items or exclusive equipment. This was already a common thing with free to play games that wanted to give players an incentive to spend money by giving them an edge for doing so. More recently, however, we see paid titles offering the same thing. It can almost be excused for free games, but a full-priced title that also attempts to milk the wallets of players by making those with the deepest pockets the strongest? That is unacceptable and any company that tries this greedy scheme should be ashamed of themselves.
     Microtransactions have become so tainted in the eyes of the gaming community that the mere mention of them being included is enough to deter a lot of potential buyers. And who can blame them? With companies like EA and Ubisoft at the helm, it makes sense that microtransactions have become synonymous with the very worst of the industry. But is there a way to do microtransactions that is acceptable, even when in a paid title?

     The short answer? Yes.

     Contrary to popular belief, there is no reason why companies shouldn't be allowed to make money after the launch of their game. None. The issue here is that few companies realize that there is a right and wrong way to do microtransactions. The wrong way is obvious: pay to win. If a microtransaction shop offers and advantage over other players who do not pay, such as a weapon that deals more damage than any weapon that can be earned for free, then the company is trying to bait players in to paying money with the promise of being superior over their peers. This is greed, this is unacceptable, and games that do this should be avoided. Then there is the right way: offering players the ability to support the developers by purchasing items that don't affect gameplay, or do so in purely convenience-oriented ways that don't provide an advantage. Take Elite: Dangerous for example. This game is a paid experience with a cash-shop. Except that the cash shop is exclusively paint jobs for ships, and little bobble heads you can put on your dashboard. It offers nothing that affects actual gameplay. Sure, a fancy paint job on that neat little all-purpose fighter you have may come off as a symbol of status, but a player in a fully decked-out end-game ship with no paintjob will still be able to smear you across time and space. Also, games that offer extra content via expansions. Skyrim for example was a paid triple a title that allowed players to purchase expansions that added to the base game as well as providing many hours more of additional gameplay, with the Dragonborn expansion in particular adding an entire new island to explore filled with quests and dungeons and new enemies and story.
     Now, there is a gray area I believe. Halo 5: Guardians is a perfect example of a gray area when asking "are these microtransactions acceptable or not?". Halo 5 Requisition (Req) Packs can be earned by playing multiplayer matches and purchased with Req Points, or you can purchase them with real cash. These req packs contain cosmetics such as armor pieces, icons, stances, and assassination animations, among other things. However, they also contain weapons for use in the Warzone game mode. These weapons can alter gameplay greatly, especially if a player is lucky enough to have a legendary-tier weapon available for use. This might be considered unacceptable pay-to-win but consider this: it's all based on chance. There's no guarantee that you'll get anything of any real value no matter how many you buy with real money. Anybody can get the packs, it just takes more time to do it for free. Anybody who has actually played the game knows that nobody (and I mean NOBODY) uses legendary items because 1) they're so rare that you might never see another one if you use it and 2) anybody with the starting pistol and a lucky position can kill you and take it from you before you even get to use it. You can be damn sure I'm never using my Prophet's Bane, and that's exactly what nearly every other player thinks. Also, the weapons can only be used in Warzone. The competitive Arena modes that have ranked systems don't allow for the use of req cards aside from xp/rp boosters that don't affect the actual game. And plus, people buying req packs pays for map packs and other new content. Halo 5 offers game-play altering content for pay, yes. But it's highly situational, and the money made from it goes in to the production of free content updates that everybody gets to enjoy regardless of the ability to pay. So this remains a gray area.
   
     In the end, microtransactions are not going anywhere for a while, and companies will continue to use cash shops to continue to make money after the launch of their game. What people need to learn is to stop immediately assuming a cash shop is going to make the game pay to win. Look at what exactly is being offered for real money before you judge a game based on the presence of a cash shop.

"Your Google Adsense Account has been Disabled"

For many, Google Adsense is a convenient way to earn money by making content, especially on YouTube. But the hyper-strict, zero-tolerance policies are so un-flexible that you can get banned, permanently, for things completely outside your control. And once your Adsense account is gone...you can never get another one. That means goodbye to any possibility of a YouTube career.

It is incredibly easy to get banned from Adsense. Absolutely anything that even LOOKS like it might be an invalid click (a click on an ad that isn't a genuine "I am interested in what is being advertised" hit) can result in your account being disabled. Unfortunately, it seems that the bots that are shrouded in secrecy and cloaked in a drizzle of company intrigue that Google uses to detect invalid clicks have decided that if the majority of traffic coming through your ads originates from social media accounts you interact with, your traffic has a much higher chance of putting the advertisers "at risk". This only further tightens the strictness of the already stubborn policies you are bound to. At this point anything can result in the termination of your accounts. A fan clicking on several ads trying to make you money, spam traffic from various phishing sites, malicious mass-clicking of ads with the intent of getting you banned, even accidently clicking on your own ad due to page load errors. These are just some of the things that can end you immediately, and if you're not already established and bringing in money, then chances are your one and only appeal will be thrown out. Google is a big fish, and to them anybody short of major websites and channels with millions of followers generating many thousands in revenue every week is completely disposable. They don't HAVE to care about customer service because they know that people like me, small time content creators with tiny channels and even smaller website, will never show up on the radar enough to even be an annoyance. They can afford to treat me like I'm worthless, and so because I was new and didn't take every step imaginable to protect myself, they did.

My YouTube channel is now unable to be monetized in any way save for Contend ID, which means I can not make money from my YouTube channel. I could make another channel, but I would have to create a fake identity to get back on to Adsense, and if I was ever caught I would be immediately banned. The worse part? I don't even know why this happened. I got an email one day saying that my Adsense was disabled. No warning, no nothing. Just boom, out of the blue, gone. I filed an appeal, and it was rejected. So essentially I can never make money via any Adsense platform ever again, and it sucks. Thankfully, there are other methods of making money by creating content. This website uses a different ad network to generate my revenue, and I am working on a Patreon to see how well I can do going down that route. But none of it will be as simple or as convenient as Adsense.

So, take it from me. If you are an up-and-coming YouTube hopeful. Don't rush in to monetizing your videos. Wait. Generate a decent sized following and ensure you always have views on your videos. Create a back-up website and produce traffic on it by integrating it with the experience of your YouTube followers. And then, only after you are certain you have a decent enough following to generate a slow but steady stream of revenue, you can set up Adsense and begin monetizing. But then, you need to protect yourself. Join up with a YouTube Network that has no contractual obligations and has decent rev share to create a safety net for yourself. Do not bring up ANYTHING to do with how much money you're making with Adsense or just anything to do with it period, as ignorant fans can think that by clicking on your ads a bunch of times they'll be making you money. There are numerous horror stories of zealous fans ruining YouTube careers by doing this. Do everything you can to protect your channel and any websites from spam traffic. Keep ads on websites placed where they are easily viewed, but not accidentally clicked. If you need to due to desktop-mobile errors, disable ads on mobile devices. There are many other things you can do to protect yourself, but they will never completely remove the risk of something outside your control getting you banned.

I was eager to get started and ignorant of how the system worked, so I went in nearly blind and paid the price. Don't make the same mistake I did.

What needs to happen is this near-monopoly Google has over monetization of content needs to end. YouTubers need some way of being able to monetize their content without Googles say-so. There needs to be more options for monetizing websites and videos than just Adsense. Something needs to happen to make it easier, and safer, for newcomers to begin making money for their work without the risk of losing everything simply because they're new. 

But until then, be careful.

The Shooter Tactics Incident

I started my YouTube channel only a few short months ago. I didn't do anything particularly interesting, nor did I intend to. It was merely a project for me to do when I was bored and to motivate myself to try new games. I'm not TotalBiscuit, or Jim Sterling, or Zero Punctuation. My word carries no weight outside my circle of friends. So I never in a million years expected to have my criticism of some shoddy asset-flipped game that was being distributed for free via Steam Greenlight be perceived as a career-ending assault on the dev of said game. But that is exactly what happened with Shooter Tactics.

Hello, world!

WE ARE LIVE!