The founders got their start selling pirated software, but CD Projekt itself started as a legit importer and localiser. Their initial success was due to knowing that they needed to compete with pirates on quality and convenience because piracy was so prevalent in Poland.
I remember! Baldur's Gate was a first "legit" game I bought for my pocket money that wasn't just "a game attached to a magazine".
And the localization was epic. It would be basically equivalent to all movie/TV star localization on the west. I still like the translated narrator better than the original.
I think lootboxes should be regulated like gambling, but the way Valve implemented them was not as bad as what the industry at large has done.
1. Loot was cosmetic or a "sidegrade" of items that could be obtained through other means (especially TF2). That is, not pay-to-win.
2. Loot boxes and their contents can be sold on the marketplace, so there are opportunities to make your money back if you get a $400 item. You can also sell the boxes themselves without paying for keys. Free Steam credit for everybody.
That's like blaming Edgar Alan Poe for trashy modern emo slam poetry. Those were innocent times when the innate evil of the loot box was not yet known. Valve abandoned them when the truth of what they were tampering with became clear. I am willing to forgive so long as they do not return to the dark arts.
At least those boxes have possible resale value. And actually just keeping them unopened have not been bad monetary gains. Some of the oldest ones have stupid resale prices at this point.
In IT (a term most of HN (a term most of Hacker News understands) understands), it is probably OK to agree the really common jargon that everyone probably knows. HTTP, WWW, etc. But be cognizant that eBPF for example isn't something you can assume everyone knows what it is. Use it, but then expand or include a link to where it is defined.
I think big artists need to start doing what some large sporting events do and sell a significant proportion of tickets on a ballot system. Instead of being first come first served, anyone who registered to buy a ticket (possibly paying a deposit to disincentivize duplicate entries) would go in the draw for the opportunity to buy a ticket, preventing things turning into an auction benefiting those who have the fastest bots.
The Grateful Dead had a system where you just bought the tickets. If you didn’t make it in the lottery, your envelope was returned unopened. Don’t remember what the method of payment was.
So you didn't get as rich as you could have and might not get to retire at 30, go live your life. A friend of mine and I both applied for a HFT firm out of university, he got in and I didn't, but based on how he described it over about 18 months working there, my greatest regret would have been taking that job, it sounded like a dismal place to work (with platinum handcuffs).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD_Projekt#Founding