To make it clear, I am no more in support of censorship than anyone else on this site.

But no one has addressed the elephant in the room here. Look over the list of the games being banned. The topic of these games is incest. Now, I can't speak to European regulations -- nor can I speak to Japanese ones either -- but here in North America, incest is illegal.

Could it be just as simple that the payment processors are just protecting themselves, should one of the federal governments choose to see their accepting payments for material of this nature as financially supporting illegal activities?

Is it appropriate for these corporations to be enforcing morality? No -- but do you really think that any of the North American governments are going to step in and slap their wrists for doing so? The governments have been allowing the corporations to interfere in the area of regulation more and more these days. I highly doubt they'll do even so much as peep about the matter.

Personally, I like the suggestion from @Cybolic on how Valve should handle the matter.

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I think some of you are giving the mid-level managers too much credit for intelligence here. They would have pushed for an online-only game strictly because their slipshod market "research" tells them that this is what consumers want. Microtransactions are an added benefit. Other than that, I doubt very little thought was put into the decision. Not unexpected that they would be so out of touch. Trends, not innovation, are all that matter to those type of people.

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Having shared my home with both species, I agree that cats may be better suited to the lifestyle of a software developer or author.

Dogs require more active attention than cats. While providing the socialization and exercise dogs need may benefit the developer's physical and mental health, it would certainly take them away more from their work. Cats will often just lie quietly nearby or on your lap -- unless they decide that they want your exclusive attention ... then you might hope that you have a spill-proof keyboard. :woot:

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Are you going to be picking it up?

I might eventually. I picked up the enhanced edition of the original game already. I have never played NWN 2, so nostalgia doesn't really play a part in the decision. I barely noticed it (I was caught up in the Elder Scrolls games that came out around that time). As you say, though, I will likely wait until they work out all the kinks.

At least, unlike the Oblivion remake, this one will run on my laptop.

Who knows? Maybe they'll relent and release a Native Linux version by the time I'm ready to purchase ... :whistle:

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@Mal

first you buy the content IP, it goes on Blockchain that you own that book content, and then you can ask whoever you want to print it whoever you want (for the price they ask to do it ofc, you own the IP not the physical media yet).

Had to think on this a bit. The only problem that I have with your idea is that it adds another middleman with their hands out for our money. Knowing corporations, it would also be an excuse to increase the overall price to the consumer.

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@Liam,

Thanks for the clarification. I'm still on LM 21.3's default 535 driver series. I haven't gotten around to implementing your Graphics Driver Guide yet. I really should...

Update: As of July 12th, I am now on the 550 series driver. The process in your guide is a lot simpler than I thought it would be. For Mint, simply add the PPA then launch Driver Manager. Easy!

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@Mal

I hadn't quite thought of it in that way. Universal access seems somewhat extreme.

Looking back at the physical book model, a new novel was often published first in a hardcover edition and then later, in a paperback edition (often by 2 distinct publishers). If I buy the hardcover edition, I do not expect to get the paperback edition as well. Two separate containers.

I see eBooks the same way. If I purchase the Amazon edition, I do not expect to have access to the Kobo edition. Two separate containers. If I want both, I have to buy both.

Tracking would only be necessary by the online reseller or, possibly, the publisher (if you want a safeguard in case the reseller shuts down).

The same should -- and does -- apply games. The GOG, Epic, Steam and "publisher" editions (or licenses) are separate containers. If I buy the Steam edition, I do not get a copy of the GOG edition. (Although, for a short while, CDP, as the publisher, did choose to offer this on some of their products -- probably to entice some customers over to GOG.)

I think universal licensing such as you were describing would be too complicated to manage. I wouldn't want that forced on publishers. I would just like to see the publishers being expected to recognize the ownership rights of their customers (i.e., of the license and it's accompanying distribution container).

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Perhaps I am misunderstanding, but to require the latest beta Nvidia driver from the experimental (new features) branch seems a bit much.

AFAIK, Lutris automatically updates DXVK across all prefixes. If I choose not to install the driver from the experimental branch and DXVK 2.7 is rolled out, will my games stop working?

I am not impressed. :angry:

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When you purchase a novel, it is understood that you don't own the intellectual property rights to the contents of the book but you do own the physical copy (or container, if you will). Yet, if you purchase the novel in eBook format (a digital container), the publisher/reseller, more and more often, treats it as a one-time subscription that they can revoke at any time without compensation to the customer. The rules governing the digital license should be no different than those regarding a physical book.

I can accept that author and/or publisher own the IP rights. If this initiative leads to regulating the publishing industry so that it can no longer treat a digital license as if it is merely a one-time subscription, then I feel it will have accomplished something good.

I use the eBook as an example, but really, this should absolutely apply to anything with a digital license -- games, books, music, videos/movies, etc.

I don't live in the EU but, like replaceable batteries and the "right to repair", this has my full support.

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I have been experimenting with the AppImage version of Heroic. I can't get it to recognize Mangohud, which I installed from the GitHub .deb installer. So far, I've only tested with native or AppImage games. Neither work (AppImage never has, no matter what launcher I use). Anybody else have this problem?

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