My retirement fund that I just started was worth $15k in December of 2021. Then, May of 2022, our area was hit really hard. My retirement plan went down to $7k. Today, it's worth $11k. I lost $4k on my retirement plan. It's invested in total market funds, some tech, some big cap companies, and healthcare. But every sector has been ravaged by the stock market changes.

I stayed at an Airbnb recently And I was curious what the actual value of it was so I looked it up on Zillow. Sold in 2015 for 350k, sold again in 2022 for $750k, now listed for sale 1.2 million. It's a cabin in North Carolina, literally nothing special. I remember back before 2020 there was tons of mountain and cabins and homes and stuff like that anywhere from 2:50 to 500K. Now you won't find a single one less than 800k....

Regular homes are just as bad. I'm seeing homes in my area that sold for around $200 to 300K in 2019, now they are 500k and above. I don't understand how this makes any sense? Salaries were not doubled, but somehow the price of all homes are now twice as much. Is this some sort of cost fixing scheme by the real estate industry to just drive up the price of homes and double them or something? Because it doesn't really make sense to me I guess.

Amazing how this cash grab of a game has been in early access alpha development for about 8 years now, finally releases, and this is the best they can do

I thought this was a joke but it seems like it's actually legit. WoW, which has a subscription and paid expansions, just added a $90 item to their store. This is Korean MMO levels of absurdity. What do you think of this?

Seems like hundreds of people bought it immediately

Out of my friends list of 45 people, I know that's not a lot but still, small list of friends that I have that have played this game actively since the very beginning, two of them still play the game and one of them does not even subscribe full-time. Only when there's a major update.... When I asked every single one of my friends why they no longer play anymore the same exact reason was said. “They were taking over by an investment company, and now it just seems like a silly cash grab. They keep raising the prices, keep missing the mark, don't listen to players.” <<< One of my friends said this to me....

So let's get the facts straight here

According to Jagex full accounts report in 2008 from the UK government website, they made $10 million in profit back in 2008. So they were not operating at a loss. Their profit for the year 2022 is up to 38 million. Jagex's profit rose from £10 million in 2008 to £38 million in 2022, a 280% increase. From 2008's price of $7.95 to the current price of $13.99, the RuneScape membership price has increased by approximately 76%.

So in other words, Jagex profit has risen by 280% since 2008, and They raised the subscription by over 80%. If we count the entire lifespan of RuneScape, it's gone up by 180%. This is: corporate greed.

For reference, by the way, World of Warcraft has never once had to increase their subscription price ever. We also have bonds in our game, and RS3 is completely monetized. A monetized game and a subscription is absolutely insanity, when you add in percentage increases to the subscription price, that's just silly

Edit: A reddit user also pointed out that you have to pay $14 a month for EVERY character, even if you're part of the same account. WoW let's you have 60+ characters in your subscription.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTFxS8UeJ/

This user appears on my TikTok feed all the time selling some product that she claims helps with acid reflux. As someone who has acid reflux, I have done a massive amount of research, and even read research papers and research studies on the subject to aid in my treatment of the illness. It's a pretty serious illness, and it's definitely not easy to treat or come up with a treatment plan, which is why there are so few medicines that are actually FDA approved for it...

But this lady is out here pushing her medicine claiming it's a miracle cure to acid reflux. There are lots of these nowadays, not only on TikTok but on Facebook as well. People pushing these alternative treatments and making such ridiculous claims, half of them probably false.

What I want to know is this. Why is this legal in the USA? Surely there should be some sort of governing body that prevents people from doing this and makes it illegal to spread this kind of misinformation?

After playing World of Warcraft for 15 years, I started becoming increasingly bored and disgruntled with the game. The game being grindy and repetitive is no real surprise, I mean it's an MMO. But the one thing that was really frustrating was paying monthly for a subscription and a huge chunk of cash for an expansion, but still having extra stuff flashed in my face all the time that was simply not possible to earn in-game. Mount skins, cosmetics, miscellaneous stuff that is only available in the Blizzard store. They also began adding loyalty items that require being subscribed every single month, and doing repetitive, extremely boring stuff on top of the other repetitive boring stuff, so basically double dipping on your grind, which really isn't fun.

Aside from that, I also played other games that required a heavy amount of grinding too, and each one of them had similarly frustrating elements. Destiny 2, overwatch, Battlefield, Fortnite, Halo, and the list goes on. Each of them has the same issue: fear of missing out. FOMO basically makes it so that if you don't seize the opportunity to spend real life money, you will never be able to obtain something really cool, because it's only there for a short time, and then it's gone, and you are made to feel guilty and bad about it. It's just kind of depressing playing kind of games and realizing that you are now mentally dependent on financial transactions in order to get the full enjoyment of the game. That to me is a very very awful way to live life, and it really messes with your emotions

So I ditched every game that had any element of an in-game purchase. This is honestly helped my mental health a huge, huge amount. Now, I only play games that either have no microtransactions in them at all, or are completely free and 100% possible to play with no purchase required at all. So games like team fortress, deadlocked, Stardew Valley, and many other indie games that you can purchase and then never have to worry about getting suckered into the microtransaction cycle for

As a long-time Stardew Valley fan, I never thought I'd find a game that could capture my heart quite the same way. Fields of Mistria has done just that. I'm honestly blown away by how good this game is

note: just a random fan, have nothing to do with this game at all. It kinda saddens me that it hasn't gotten as much attention though, there are so many mediocre games with soooo many reviews.. this game is legit insane. it's gorgeous!!

Edit: Concerned Ape must've seen my post, and now Stardew Valley has a midweek deal for -50% off LMFAO you cannot make this up

I’m really frustrated with how almost every new game these days is being forced into this “live service” model. It seems like no matter what type of game you want to play—whether it’s an RPG, shooter, or even something traditionally single-player—you’re stuck with always-online requirements. And for what? It adds nothing to the experience for most players and, if anything, it makes the game worse.

Take Fallout 76, for example. You can’t play it offline, period. You’re expected to pay $100 a year for a subscription to play by yourself, but even then, you’re still online, and any slight hiccup in your internet connection—or their terrible servers—means you get kicked off. It’s absurd. Fallout has always been a solo game experience, but now we’re locked into an online system no one wanted. Who actually benefits from this? Not the players, that’s for sure.

Another perfect example is Once Human. This is a game that could have been incredible, but instead, it’s trapped in the live service model from the start. I’m sitting there playing, and there’s no one around. So why am I online? Why can’t I just enjoy the game offline? It’s not like I’m asking to avoid multiplayer altogether—just give players the option! If I want to jump into a server and play with others, fine. But the fact that I’m forced to connect even for big chunks of the game that should be playable offline just feels unnecessary.

One of the worst offenders in recent memory is Temtem. It’s like they tried to make a multiplayer Pokémon and failed miserably. The game is fully online, yet it’s a ghost town. Steam shows fewer than 100 players on at any given time, but they still force everyone to play online. And one day, the servers will go offline entirely, and what happens to your game then? It’s completely gone, and so is your money. It feels like a scam.

The worst part is, nobody seems to be fighting against this trend except for the EU. They’re already working on passing laws that would require games to be playable offline if the servers get shut down. Imagine that! A game company actually having to care about whether you can play the game you paid for after it’s abandoned. It’s crazy to me that this isn’t already standard everywhere. The fact that we even need a law to ensure you can still enjoy your purchase after the servers are gone is telling.

It’s just sad to see so many great games ruined by forced online connectivity. Live service works for some titles, but not everything needs to be connected 24/7. Developers need to wake up and realize that players want the choice, not a one-size-fits-all approach that makes everything worse in the long run.

Quit World of Warcraft recently Because I couldn't justify the subscription anymore. It's been really hard to find a game to put time into and keep my attention. I tried OverWatch 2 but that game is hot fecal matter. Stardew Valley is fun for a little while, all my friends quit though And that's who I played with. Team fortress is good I guess as well, gets repetitive though. And that game is old as heck...

So I'm like hey, you know what? I'll try deadlocked, this new early access valve game. Holy crap this is actually fun! It's like Dota or League of Legends, mixed with OverWatch. Some of the characters even mimic some of the exact mechanics of the game, for example one of the characters has an ultimate ability where you spin around in circles dealing damage to everything, like they copied it off of reaper in OverWatch. But hey, I'm not really complaining, who cares right?

Valve honestly makes some of the best games ever, every time I play one it's a banger that gets my attention for thousands of hours and this one has been so damn fun. I'm surprised more people aren't playing it, it's just crazy how fun it is and how addictive it is.

Battlefield 2042 is $60 right now. One of my friends on Steam plays Battlefield 2042 and I thought hey, that would be pretty cool to play with him. I'm sure it wouldn't be that much because that game came out a long time ago and was extremely poorly received and like, I'm sure it would be really easy to buy that game or get it now since it's been so long and again, very low reviews. The game is $60!! But when it goes on sale, it's like 8$, so 80% off. Truly unbelievable. Why do they do this? Like, they're basically trying to kill the game or something because no one in their right mind would pay $60 for this game, so 90% of the time when it's not on sale, no one buys it or wants to try it out... Also, lots of old games that are "on sale" constantly for like $5 and the base price is 40-60$, so it makes it seem like SUCH a good deal, when in reality, the value has just depreciated...

They never seem to lower the base cost of anything, making it deceptive. Is it really 80% off of a $60 game if no one in their right f*cking mind would pay that much for it ever?