Community, the Internet and Hidden Agendas

This blog to me is about many things, gaming, virtual photography and highlighting points of interest for anyone like myself out there that has a thirst for gaming and creativity. My first rule that I try to abide by is avoiding negativity. The world is full of it. You can visit any game new website and it will be full of click bait and negative posts. Right now in lock down I feel it has nose dived into waffle, allegations and lawsuits. While the latter two are important if I posted the same content it would just be passing on that negativity. It's pointless.

The internet can sometimes be a confusing and dangerous place.

Instead I choose to try and push forward the things to look forward to and the beauty of the hobby and gaming community. The Instagram and Twitter VP communities for many have been a great lift during lock down and long before. As the Gaming is Wonderful posts show, the internet and gaming allow us to pull through harder times. This year it has been a godsend to me personally and many others I have spoken to out there. 

Communities can also be a perfect way to connect and find ourselves.

Being an active member of the community and fairly social I end up chatting with a lot of people online. Over the past two weeks I have spoken to a variety of people about issues they have had within the community. Of course out of confidentiality I won't divulge names or even the more sensitive of issues but I think it is important that I reflect on these matters.

The first was a prominent Instagram member who got involved in a discussion about The Last of Us Part 2, let down his guard and went on a racist tirade about how awful the game is. Not due to the narrative but more due to the fact Ellie and Dina are gay, that it involves a Asian guy and that Dina is of the Jewish faith. In a post last week I briefly covered the outrage against Naughty Dog for The Last of Us Part 2. The game has challenged perceptions and made many of the more ignorant reveal their racism, homophobia and sexism. 

One game, so much divide and hostility.

Along with this another person was targeted by abuse by a follower of mine that I had had for over a year. I talked to them fairly often, they seemed decent. One of my other followers contacted me and showed me screenshots of their conversation. Again this was caused by their views of Kassandra on Assassins' Creed Odyssey in comparison to Bayek in Origins. They did not accept that Ubisoft had given freedom to the player and said that "the company deserve the abuse they get" and went on to say many unpleasant things regarding men and their position in society. 

Kassandra an icon for many.

The third was an artist on Instagram. I approached them regarding an interview about their craft and inspirations. The first thing they wanted was unfiltered shots of my face and body "if possible" (I hadn't asked for artwork to be drawn or indulged the sharing of personal experiences). On my refusal they said they would not do the interview. This set alarm bells off and I shut the conversation down. This week, it turns out the artist, who posed as a young woman, is actually a man from the other side of the world, begging and taking peoples money. 

To end this, today I was tagged in a post along with someone that was also not the person they said they were some time ago. Here lies the problem with anonymity of the internet. It makes us feel safe but also it can be a dangerous place.

Anonymity keeps us safe but also creates danger.

My advice as I have said to people whenever I am approached with issues like these is block them, report them if they have been offensive. Sadly the likely-hood anything will be done by social media companies is slim. They don't seem to care. 

On of my followers said this to me and I think it sums up how most of us feel in this situation:

"The painful part is then seeing these people still operate, getting love they perhaps do not deserve. These people look loving and decent, it is not until you happen to take a glimpse behind the monitor at the real person that the facade falls away."

Squash them, block them and move on.
Try to forget, hate campaigns will not get you anywhere.

Just be careful. We hear it all the time but at some point we all let our guard down to those who we trust. How much can you trust someone you've never met? I like to think you can but many would say that is a naive viewpoint. Be cautious, be careful and always have that healthy segment of doubt in the back of your mind. You come first.

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All shots in this article were taken by me from a variety of games. 

Tennocon 2020 and Freebies!

Tennocon 2020 snuck up on me. I only realised yesterday it was here and now today it has arrived. As usual Tennocon comes with exclusive mechanise, in game freebies and other such joys. 

The freebies are tied in with twitch and watching Warframe streams. From 12:30pm ET until 5pm ET, you can snag yourself a free pistol and weapon slot for watching 30mins of a stream, then from 5pm until 6pm, do the same to snag Hydroid Prime and a Warframe slot.

Attending the in game relay on Earth will gain you rewards too, but I believe it will be only when the countdown reaches zero, as I have yet to gain any rewards.

You can watch the official stream here.

Here is the event list as follows:

You can make yourself a badge here.

And if Twitch isn't your thing or you missed the event, you can claim some glyphs and an orbiter decoration online here, thanks to Dan Alder. 

Claim a free Syandana here on console.

Claim another Syandana if you have Twitch Prime here.

Online Piracy risen by nearly 60%

According to the Guardian UK Piracy has risen massively during lockdown. It is during these times of self isolation and, for many, a lack of income that options become far more tantalising. This is not just a trend within the UK but worldwide as this graph from MUSO shows.

Films and hit shows such as Contagion and Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness have been huge draws for streaming services in recent weeks, and for illegal websites that host pirated copies.

“For the last three years of data, we’ve seen film and TV [piracy] in every single territory in the world spike at the weekends,” said Andy Chatterley, Muso’s chief executive. "The company now sees even more weekday film piracy by U.S. users than it previously did on weekends," he said.

Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness

The top pirate sites in the U.S, U.K, Germany, France, Italy and Spain served 50% more ads to users in the first quarter compared with the previous quarter, according to White Bullet Solutions Ltd., a London-based company tracking the advertising that supports intellectual property theft.

While Netflix and other streaming sites are having to reduce the quality of their streams to allow for the increased demand, many pirate streaming sites are still offering high definition viewing. 

"Netflix said it added more than double the number of subscribers it forecast in the first quarter, and Walt Disney Co. said it had 50 million subscribers to its Disney+ service on April 8, from 28.6 million in early February. It had told investors last year that it expected 60 million to 90 million signups by the end of fiscal 2024." - Wall Street Journal

In response to this increase social media companies have cracked down of streaming by banning certain URLs, while Europol warned customers that black market streaming can open you up to forms of cyber attack. Meanwhile police forces worldwide have been arresting people behind the piracy. 

With an increase in piracy and peoples desperation the chances of downloading harmful software has increased along with door to door and phone scamming of the elderly and vulnerable. 

Stay smart, stay safe.