Y2Ken

Sometimes, and not really. I definitely have gripes with the terminology and concept of an "Influencer" though - the underlying implications are certainly seedy. But while people of that sort absolutely do exist on YouTube there are thousands of content creators who aren't like that.

I'm also of the opinion that, as long as they don't claim to be reviewing a product when they aren't, and that they are very clear when content is paid for, most YouTube gaming videos are just fine. I believe seeing a game for yourself is generally very powerful - were this an issue with people producing podcast or written content, I'd have greater concerns, but if you're watching them play the game you ought to be able to make a fairly reasoned judgement for yourself about the product regardless of what the person playing it has to say.

Now, were the video to intentionally cut out any negative parts of the game (such as hitching, glitches, and so on) that would be cause for concern. And, again, that certainly does happen in some cases. But ultimately if people want to watch a YouTuber for purely entertainment purposes I'm okay with that. Likewise, if someone creates a game that is entirely "YouTube bait" and sells a bunch of copies to people who enjoyed watching it be played, I'm generally okay with that too. They helped to create that entertainment. I'd hope that people can judge when a game is deserving of their money in that situation and when it isn't.

I'm so happy Bakalar got the Persona treatment!

Now he has no excuse not to get into 5.

Weirdly Cigs66 might be okay on Twitch these days because of their Creative category.

I hope that dude always has a place to shred on the internet, should he want to.

I was always of this opinion. People had this impression that "we got you (the Lib Dems) into power and you went back on your promises."

No, we didn't. We got them into a coalition government where they had to make compromises on pretty much every contested issue. They got their foot in the door, but nothing more. Blaming the Lib Dems because they couldn't somehow force through policies that the Conservatives who offered them a coalition weren't prepared to accept always seemed silly to me.

@optix12: Yeah, sounds like Hyuna is planning to continue doing solo stuff (which I'm super happy about) but the others decided to pursue their various interests when the contract ran out.

I'm super glad this thread has some activity again.

Kisum has been wonderful of late but as it's been a while I'll note that I've also been on a real Stellar, 9Muses, and AOA kick recently.

Also I'm super sad that 4minute are disbanding but thankful that we've had 7 years of fantastic stuff out of them. Both Crazy and Act 7 were great EPs to go out on.

I came here to see what people were saying about the Reigns issue but yes please this is actually even more interesting to me.

I'd largely go with this statement.

That said, I'd probably wait just to see what more details we get on the Neo first. Just in case.

I'm glad to see the Shield boys getting their moment together. It's maybe a little late in the cycle for it, but I'm glad it's finally happening.

Also that Pedigree counter on the Spear was kinda neat. Having Reigns kick out only to get pinned immediately afterwards was a little strange, but thinking about it now I actually kinda like it from this perspective of showing that he still has that natural drive to push out of moments where a "normal" superstar would be done but that even that doesn't necessarily mean he actually comes back into the match every time.

After not actually watching a ton of the show last year (primarily keeping up by reading this thread and stuff like B&W) I've been watching more of it since WM and I think the combination of the past couple of months being fairly positive, this PPV making things interesting in a fun way, and the upcoming Brand Split is enough to reinvigorate my interest and get me watching again.

Honestly at this point I'll just be glad when it's over. The constant bickering and hatred flying between the parties is the absolute worst.

Personally, I'm with the Stay camp. The big names and organisations backing that side are more compelling to me than the voices in favour of leaving. I've also yet to hear an especially compelling argument from the leave camp which doesn't boil down to a sovereignty issue or people clamouring for an idealised old-fashioned "Britain" that I don't think makes sense in this day and age. A lot of their complaints are counter to their hopes: for example, the idea that we could still trade with the EU afterwards as the likes of Norway and Switzerland do (probably true - but then we'd likely have to follow EU regulations to do so which might well include freedom of movement for EU citizens, which is one of the leave campaigns biggest bugbears).

All it feels like we'd be doing is continuing to subject ourselves to their laws, but with no semblance of control over helping to decide them. Also the leave campaign seems to be focused more on emotions, with numbers that don't seem to hold up as well to close scrutiny and often an inability to point to conclusive statistics in their favour when asked. Ultimately this comes down to the fact that it's very much an unknown - but I'm less of a risk-taker, so I'll stick with the systems that I know work well. Maybe we could be better off in the long run, but it'll be expensive either way and we could just as easily come out way worse.

Regardless, I'm just looking forward to not having to think about it too much after this week. It probably won't have too huge an impact on me directly (as an individual) either way - at least not in a way that is too concerning. I've never been hugely into talking politics with friends, because it primarily causes arguments and rarely actually affects outcomes. Most of my friends and family seem to be pro-stay, but I know that not all of them are and the numbers on that side are certainly compelling. I'm actually most interested to see the turnout, because this feels like something people are more invested in than normal elections (which is perhaps a little silly, because those are also pretty important).