Link to the Past not long after it came out. Think I got it for my birthday and then was off school ill (genuinely!) for a week and beat it. Loved it. Then over the next week a friend and I managed to get all 20 hearts (which I think is all the collectables in the game?). Good times.
Had great fun playing this with a mate back in the day on a huge (for the time!!) 40" plasma and a ridiculous 5.1 sound system. We spent a week playing it every night with some beers and pretty much got top rank on every stage.
Don't think this is a sign of a decline in the gaming industry. It's more a decline of gaming journalism and now companies have direct communication routes to customers instead of relying on gaming magazines and websites.
Not surprising considering the utter self obsessed cesspit it has become for the most part (with a few notable exceptions).
The Otherland series of books by Tad Williams sprang to mind reading this. It's over 20 years old and should read it again but that was a series based on a vision of what the internet and gaming would become - fully immersive experiences. Ready Player One reminded me quite a bit of it at times....
It's worth checking out - although it's not based fully on gaming it's a significant part of the narrative.
Mogworld by Yahtzee Croshaw, although more lighthearted, is good fun and also work a look. It's far more based on gaming as you'd expect from the author
Bought this on the Series X fairly recently as a mate raved about it. Well. First he ranted saying how the start is one of the worst introductions to a game ever and was going to refund it. But went back to it the next day and he was hooked.
It's far, far better than I expected. Once you get out into the world it's great fun bombing around hoovering up stuff and smashing through the levels. Loved the more chill open world vibe too. Music is grand, graphics are fine (albeit with pop in for some things) in performance mode and, most importantly for a sonic game, the controls are tight and customisable for speed, turning etc. Which is a damn cool thing to add.
Story ain't a classic but it's enough to help pull you through the game.
It's defo worth a shot. Even moreso if it's on sale. It's up with some of the best sonic games.
DS lite for me. The GBA game slot meant I spent a couple of years commuting across London playing The World Ends with You, Final Fantasy 6 and a few Castlevania games amongst others. Brilliant device and still regret getting rid of it.
The Switch saved my sanity when I last commuted into London. Breath of the Wild and a Minecraft were a great way to wind down when heading home.
Army or/or Navy Moves on the zx spectrum. Those second parts looked pretty awesome. Just a shame the first part was a ridiculous endurance test of reflexes, precision jumping and memorising about 10 mins of ***** frustration.
Getting to the end of Super Ghouls'n'Ghosts on the SNES should've been a moment of pride and something you could boast about. Seeing that you didn't have the special weapon and being sent back to the beginning was quite a shock and then getting the weapon and accidently losing it was almost controller breakingly annoying.
I did eventually manage to complete it - this was back on the original hardware too so no cheats. Conversely which was one of the most rewarding moments I've had in gaming.
@SonOfDracula I'm sure the game websites will have an agreement with the publisher. Or it'll be under fair use.
Dude. Stop digging.
I've given enough reasons why atlus may act like they do. Choose to disagree. Whatever. I don't really care as much about it as you do. I just find copyright law, IP and also entitled people fascinating
@SonOfDracula It's not predujice - it's the law - IP or copyright. I mentioned before that if the key thing that Atlus thinks will make the Persona series sell if the story then they're well within their legal rights to take steps to protect it and ensure they get money back in so their workers get paid and keep their job. Their taking the steps they see fit to protect that.
If a streamer streams the games, 1000 watch it then because they've seen how the story plays out don't buy the game then there is the potential for a loss of sales/revenue. So they're taking the steps within the law to protect that.
I'm not saying it's the 100% case but I can absolutely understand why they would do it.
Tis solid business sense. If they didn't have any they'd be out of business, people would lose jobs and no more Persona. And considering they're reported as running at a loss for a good few years before 2022 I'd imagine they'd want to do everything to protect the money coming in.
@WhiteUmbrella The comparison from instruments to games is pretty out of whack for me reading it as a musician and a gamer.
Game dev tools are the equivelent of instruments as are the DAWs, VSTs and all the other elements that enable you to create the music. Games are the music.
When you buy an instrument you're not buying a license to play it under agreed conditions as part of the purchase. There would be some IP issues if you tried to replicate it and sell it to others...But that's another can of worms
To expand on why Atlus might do this - if they feel the story is the USP of their product which will make it sucess then if people stream it, give out the entire story for free (essentialy) then that could affect sales. The story is a very key in thing a lot of the Persona games. If people experience the story without paying for the game and someone else reaps the financial rewards then how is that fair on the creators of the game?
@Jolmood It's not a personal attack on you - people are free to point out these things while being only aware of the failings of the country they live in to. It's cool to be proud of your country and, to be fair, they've made my local football team one of the richest in the world! But it's also fine for people to feel uncomfortable with that and it not be racism or prejudice. I get where you coming from. It is easy to be defensive of your country. We're all tend to do it.
Anyway - enough of this! Like you I'm not on here to talk politics or get into deep philosophical discussions
@Pillowpants i don't think they would have much influence. I hope not anyway.
I think this is a general diversifying of their wealth portfolio from oil into other areas rather than anything more insidious. Again - I hope that's the case.
On topic on the game I'll probably end up getting two copies for different systems else I'll never my wife off it so I can play it. She's a huge Potter fan and is properly excited for this. Does look like it'll be a blast although I think I won't get the switch version to be safe. Would be cool to play it handheld but seems a game more suited to a bigger screen and I rarely play the switch docked.
13 Sentinels is a brilliant game. Absolutely fantastic story with a better than expected simple RTS element. Blew my mind when I played it on the PS4 and it's a game I'd love to forget to play again for the first time.
@EaglyTheKawaiiShika it's a good game. Completed it earlier and kept me coming back till I finished it and I'm certainly one to drop a game quickly. It's stupid fun. Decent gameplay and not as bad as some made out.
I think the theme of 2022 has been recovery. We've seen the effects of covid and how it's caused a lot of delays. Hopefully we're over the worst of it now.
@RainbowGazelle They also provide jobs and income for millions of people. A soulless corporation like Microsoft also enabled the creation of one of the world's biggest charitable foundations too. So while they're not all innocent and angelic they're also not all run by cut-throat Gordon Gekko types sitting there counting their wads of cash.
@Crockin my cynicism knows no bounds, trust me. I can understand nintendo's stance if I don't agree with it.
Nintendo cares first and foremost about its IP and image. Always has done and always will do which is why they are. If you're not going to abide by the law and their rules you can't be surprised when they act they way they do. Again - naive to think otherwise.
@boxyguy Part cynical and mostly being realistic about how people are. If he's doing it as a morale boost for the community then grand. But seems a huge financial outlay which would be insane to make unless there's a clear return on that investment. That's how things work.
I'm not saying I agree on nintendo's stance but equally this dude seems to be trying to capitalise on anti-nintendo sentiment and it's working.
For me Stray seems like such an overrated game. Great world and really impressive in its art style. Nails the atmosphere but the game is painfully boring - just running about looking for button prompts to progress. Such a wasted opportunity and I've never mustered the energy to go back and finish it.
The Quarry at #3 just seems like click bait. As does including The Last of Us Part 1 version 15. Personally it's a shame Grounded 1.0 didn't get a look in. It's the best survival adventure game I've played so far - I rate it more than Subnautica (which I loved).
@Dezzy70 where have you seen all these piles of un-sold consoles that would most likely be stored in warehouses and distribution centres? Or do you have insight into the logistic chains that Microsoft use?
I'd say they've got the logistics right if it isn't sold out everywhere and available to buy if people want it.
When did gamers become such contrarians? Ed Sheeran is fine and most people wouldn't care if he wasn't as huge as he is.
Talented, down to earth guy. Can play to a stadium and get everyone involved just by himself which is pretty amazing for any artist. Not my sorta thing but can certainly see the talent he has.
That someone has spent time creating this mod seems incredibly petty and mean spirited with a dash of attention seeking. Quite reflective of the more toxic elements of the gaming community.
Also I expect prices of games will rise still aside from inflation. The focus of no cruch/more money for devs and VAs getting more money will have an end up having significant impact on the cost to create games for the bigger companies and ultimately that's gonna get passed onto the end user.
The size of the mobile market shouldn't be that surprising globally. It'd be interesting to see a breakdown of the revenue for that by region/country - I expect in a good few places a mobile device will be the only access they have to gaming realistically so it's bound to take up a chunk of market share.
Not surprising that the industry will take a downturn. I'd expect a good few 'luxury' past times will be hit as well as the recovery from COVID plus dealing with the fallout of Russia/Ukraine continues.
@Piyo for what exactly? If you're talking GDPR and presuming your in the UK - unless you can show any loss etc that you've incurred directly related to the breach you're not going to be in for much at all. And unless you're going to move jobs shortly after then it's not the best idea. Sad but true.
If a malicious actor gets access to a network and managed to get elevated credentials you're screwed pretty much (in the Microsoft world anyway) if PII/sensitive data is stored within the company.
Hacks are usually phishing or social engineering. That or someone leaving an admin password at the default or an unpatched system found on a scan. There's not a huge deal a skill to it. Access to the right scripts, a botnet or (most likely) a gullible employee and you're in.
Covers have never been fair use. No idea where people have got that from. Played in bands around the UK for years and had PRS (not the guitar company unfortunately) turn up a good few times and grill us to see if we'd played any covers and if our stuff was original.
I wouldn't mind someone covering my stuff for no profit/fun but if someone tried to coin in on it I'd be plenty annoyed. Playing music is hard enough, creating stuff is far harder imho. The YouTuber doing a poor me approach to try and garner sympathy is purely a cynical angle to take as he can no longer profit from other people's work. It's just playing to a David vs Goliath narrative and too many people fall for it.
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Re: Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Is Now The "Highest Rated Game Of All Time" On OpenCritic
@ThomasCasson and Eurogamer seeking attention with their new brand new scoring system and giving it 4/5 (80/100)
Shame as it was once and one of the best gaming sites. Now...not so much.
Re: Random: Nintendo's New Zelda Video Asks "When Did You First Wield The Master Sword?"
Link to the Past not long after it came out. Think I got it for my birthday and then was off school ill (genuinely!) for a week and beat it. Loved it. Then over the next week a friend and I managed to get all 20 hearts (which I think is all the collectables in the game?). Good times.
Re: Poll: Which Was Your First 'Final Fantasy'?
Final Fantasy Adventure on the original Gameboy. Loved it and was a blast to play at the time.
Re: GameStop Fires Employee For Leaking Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Switch
I'm thinking the people defending him have probably never had a job. Or live in the real world.
Break your employment contract and you're gonna lose your job. It's the same in most places.
Re: Metroid Prime Engineer Calls Out Nintendo, Says Not Crediting OG Devs In Remaster Is "Petty And Ridiculous"
@Olmectron This is the way
...of the endlessly entitled.
Re: Poll: Box Art Brawl: Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles
Easily Europe.
Had great fun playing this with a mate back in the day on a huge (for the time!!) 40" plasma and a ridiculous 5.1 sound system. We spent a week playing it every night with some beers and pretty much got top rank on every stage.
Good times and a cracking game 👍
Re: Poll: What's The Best Indiana Jones Game? Rate Your Favourites For Our Upcoming Ranking
@Dr_Corndog Exactly my reaction reading this.
Completed it on the Amiga back in the day. So much swapping of disks... Brilliant game regardless.
Re: It's Official, E3 2023 Has Been Cancelled
Don't think this is a sign of a decline in the gaming industry. It's more a decline of gaming journalism and now companies have direct communication routes to customers instead of relying on gaming magazines and websites.
Not surprising considering the utter self obsessed cesspit it has become for the most part (with a few notable exceptions).
Re: Random: New Peppa Pig Game Pays Tribute To Queen Elizabeth II
@Parker55 Quite. People seem more about spreading outrage and hate than peace and acceptance.
But that's what gets those clicks and attention. Depressing really.
Re: Soapbox: Why Aren't There More Books About Games?
The Otherland series of books by Tad Williams sprang to mind reading this. It's over 20 years old and should read it again but that was a series based on a vision of what the internet and gaming would become - fully immersive experiences. Ready Player One reminded me quite a bit of it at times....
It's worth checking out - although it's not based fully on gaming it's a significant part of the narrative.
Mogworld by Yahtzee Croshaw, although more lighthearted, is good fun and also work a look. It's far more based on gaming as you'd expect from the author
Re: Sonic Frontiers' Sales "Greatly Exceeded" Expectations
Bought this on the Series X fairly recently as a mate raved about it. Well. First he ranted saying how the start is one of the worst introductions to a game ever and was going to refund it. But went back to it the next day and he was hooked.
It's far, far better than I expected. Once you get out into the world it's great fun bombing around hoovering up stuff and smashing through the levels. Loved the more chill open world vibe too. Music is grand, graphics are fine (albeit with pop in for some things) in performance mode and, most importantly for a sonic game, the controls are tight and customisable for speed, turning etc. Which is a damn cool thing to add.
Story ain't a classic but it's enough to help pull you through the game.
It's defo worth a shot. Even moreso if it's on sale. It's up with some of the best sonic games.
Re: Soapbox: Switch Is Great, But The GBA SP Was The Pinnacle Of Public Transport Gaming
DS lite for me. The GBA game slot meant I spent a couple of years commuting across London playing The World Ends with You, Final Fantasy 6 and a few Castlevania games amongst others. Brilliant device and still regret getting rid of it.
The Switch saved my sanity when I last commuted into London. Breath of the Wild and a Minecraft were a great way to wind down when heading home.
Re: Talking Point: What Is The Most Frustrated You've Ever Been With A Video Game?
Army or/or Navy Moves on the zx spectrum. Those second parts looked pretty awesome. Just a shame the first part was a ridiculous endurance test of reflexes, precision jumping and memorising about 10 mins of ***** frustration.
Getting to the end of Super Ghouls'n'Ghosts on the SNES should've been a moment of pride and something you could boast about. Seeing that you didn't have the special weapon and being sent back to the beginning was quite a shock and then getting the weapon and accidently losing it was almost controller breakingly annoying.
I did eventually manage to complete it - this was back on the original hardware too so no cheats. Conversely which was one of the most rewarding moments I've had in gaming.
Re: Atlus Releases Strict Streaming Guidelines For Persona 3 Portable & Persona 4 Golden
@SonOfDracula I'm sure the game websites will have an agreement with the publisher. Or it'll be under fair use.
Dude. Stop digging.
I've given enough reasons why atlus may act like they do. Choose to disagree. Whatever. I don't really care as much about it as you do. I just find copyright law, IP and also entitled people fascinating
Re: Atlus Releases Strict Streaming Guidelines For Persona 3 Portable & Persona 4 Golden
People disagree with me so I'll ignore them because I'm wrong. Welcome to the 21st century
Re: Atlus Releases Strict Streaming Guidelines For Persona 3 Portable & Persona 4 Golden
@SonOfDracula It's not predujice - it's the law - IP or copyright. I mentioned before that if the key thing that Atlus thinks will make the Persona series sell if the story then they're well within their legal rights to take steps to protect it and ensure they get money back in so their workers get paid and keep their job. Their taking the steps they see fit to protect that.
If a streamer streams the games, 1000 watch it then because they've seen how the story plays out don't buy the game then there is the potential for a loss of sales/revenue. So they're taking the steps within the law to protect that.
I'm not saying it's the 100% case but I can absolutely understand why they would do it.
Tis solid business sense. If they didn't have any they'd be out of business, people would lose jobs and no more Persona. And considering they're reported as running at a loss for a good few years before 2022 I'd imagine they'd want to do everything to protect the money coming in.
Re: Atlus Releases Strict Streaming Guidelines For Persona 3 Portable & Persona 4 Golden
@duerer Dude I think Mr. Umbrella might be what we call in the UK a Freeman of the Land type
Re: Atlus Releases Strict Streaming Guidelines For Persona 3 Portable & Persona 4 Golden
@WhiteUmbrella The comparison from instruments to games is pretty out of whack for me reading it as a musician and a gamer.
Game dev tools are the equivelent of instruments as are the DAWs, VSTs and all the other elements that enable you to create the music. Games are the music.
When you buy an instrument you're not buying a license to play it under agreed conditions as part of the purchase. There would be some IP issues if you tried to replicate it and sell it to others...But that's another can of worms
To expand on why Atlus might do this - if they feel the story is the USP of their product which will make it sucess then if people stream it, give out the entire story for free (essentialy) then that could affect sales. The story is a very key in thing a lot of the Persona games. If people experience the story without paying for the game and someone else reaps the financial rewards then how is that fair on the creators of the game?
Re: Atlus Releases Strict Streaming Guidelines For Persona 3 Portable & Persona 4 Golden
@WhiteUmbrella buying a game doesn't mean you own it. You buy a license to use that game under the terms and conditions of that purchase.
Re: Japanese Charts: Switch OLED Model Dominates, Selling Almost 150,000 Units
I've no regrets upgrading to the OLED switch. Play mostly in handheld so it was a no-brainer upgrade
The screen is brilliant aside from all the other upgrades.
Re: Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund Raises Stake In Nintendo To 6%
@Jolmood It's not a personal attack on you - people are free to point out these things while being only aware of the failings of the country they live in to. It's cool to be proud of your country and, to be fair, they've made my local football team one of the richest in the world! But it's also fine for people to feel uncomfortable with that and it not be racism or prejudice. I get where you coming from. It is easy to be defensive of your country. We're all tend to do it.
Anyway - enough of this! Like you I'm not on here to talk politics or get into deep philosophical discussions
Re: Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund Raises Stake In Nintendo To 6%
@Jolmood I wouldn't bring slavery into a discussion defending Saudi, dude
Re: Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund Raises Stake In Nintendo To 6%
@Pillowpants i don't think they would have much influence. I hope not anyway.
I think this is a general diversifying of their wealth portfolio from oil into other areas rather than anything more insidious. Again - I hope that's the case.
Re: Simon Pegg Is Heading Back To School As Hogwarts Legacy's Headmaster
@Bass_X0 Well put and agree.
On topic on the game I'll probably end up getting two copies for different systems else I'll never my wife off it so I can play it. She's a huge Potter fan and is properly excited for this. Does look like it'll be a blast although I think I won't get the switch version to be safe. Would be cool to play it handheld but seems a game more suited to a bigger screen and I rarely play the switch docked.
Re: Here Are Metacritic's Highest-Rated Switch Games Of 2022
13 Sentinels is a brilliant game. Absolutely fantastic story with a better than expected simple RTS element. Blew my mind when I played it on the PS4 and it's a game I'd love to forget to play again for the first time.
Re: Talking Point: What Was The Video Gaming 'Theme' Of 2022?
@EaglyTheKawaiiShika it's a good game. Completed it earlier and kept me coming back till I finished it and I'm certainly one to drop a game quickly. It's stupid fun. Decent gameplay and not as bad as some made out.
I think the theme of 2022 has been recovery. We've seen the effects of covid and how it's caused a lot of delays. Hopefully we're over the worst of it now.
Re: Minecraft's Ending Is Now Free For Anyone To Use
@RainbowGazelle They also provide jobs and income for millions of people. A soulless corporation like Microsoft also enabled the creation of one of the world's biggest charitable foundations too. So while they're not all innocent and angelic they're also not all run by cut-throat Gordon Gekko types sitting there counting their wads of cash.
Re: Atari Announces Ultra Rare Arcade Shooter 'Akka Arrh' Is Coming To Switch
@SpringDivorce Minter is an true legend in gaming. Loved his Llamasoft games on the Spectrum and ST.
Re: Random: YouTuber Ludwig Announces His Own Super Smash Bros. Tournament
@Crockin my cynicism knows no bounds, trust me. I can understand nintendo's stance if I don't agree with it.
Nintendo cares first and foremost about its IP and image. Always has done and always will do which is why they are. If you're not going to abide by the law and their rules you can't be surprised when they act they way they do. Again - naive to think otherwise.
Re: Random: YouTuber Ludwig Announces His Own Super Smash Bros. Tournament
@boxyguy Part cynical and mostly being realistic about how people are. If he's doing it as a morale boost for the community then grand. But seems a huge financial outlay which would be insane to make unless there's a clear return on that investment. That's how things work.
I'm not saying I agree on nintendo's stance but equally this dude seems to be trying to capitalise on anti-nintendo sentiment and it's working.
Re: Random: YouTuber Ludwig Announces His Own Super Smash Bros. Tournament
@Crockin which he will clearly get something out of. Else he wouldn't do it. Naive to think otherwise.
He's essentially running a business of being a youtuber.
Re: Random: YouTuber Ludwig Announces His Own Super Smash Bros. Tournament
YouTuber wants attention to get more viewers subscibers/income by jumping on bandwagon shock.
Quite a cynical move disguised by seeming altruistic. Clever.
Re: TMNT: Shredder's Revenge, LEGO Star Wars & More Crowned TIME's 'Best Video Games Of 2022'
For me Stray seems like such an overrated game. Great world and really impressive in its art style. Nails the atmosphere but the game is painfully boring - just running about looking for button prompts to progress. Such a wasted opportunity and I've never mustered the energy to go back and finish it.
The Quarry at #3 just seems like click bait. As does including The Last of Us Part 1 version 15. Personally it's a shame Grounded 1.0 didn't get a look in. It's the best survival adventure game I've played so far - I rate it more than Subnautica (which I loved).
Re: Random: Sony Alleges That Microsoft Is Trying To Turn It Into Nintendo
@Dezzy70 where have you seen all these piles of un-sold consoles that would most likely be stored in warehouses and distribution centres? Or do you have insight into the logistic chains that Microsoft use?
I'd say they've got the logistics right if it isn't sold out everywhere and available to buy if people want it.
Re: Pokémon Scarlet & Violet's First Mod Has Removed Ed Sheeran's Song 'Celestial'
When did gamers become such contrarians? Ed Sheeran is fine and most people wouldn't care if he wasn't as huge as he is.
Talented, down to earth guy. Can play to a stadium and get everyone involved just by himself which is pretty amazing for any artist. Not my sorta thing but can certainly see the talent he has.
That someone has spent time creating this mod seems incredibly petty and mean spirited with a dash of attention seeking. Quite reflective of the more toxic elements of the gaming community.
Re: Games Market Expected To Decline 4.3% Globally This Year, According To Newzoo
Also I expect prices of games will rise still aside from inflation. The focus of no cruch/more money for devs and VAs getting more money will have an end up having significant impact on the cost to create games for the bigger companies and ultimately that's gonna get passed onto the end user.
Re: Games Market Expected To Decline 4.3% Globally This Year, According To Newzoo
The size of the mobile market shouldn't be that surprising globally. It'd be interesting to see a breakdown of the revenue for that by region/country - I expect in a good few places a mobile device will be the only access they have to gaming realistically so it's bound to take up a chunk of market share.
Not surprising that the industry will take a downturn. I'd expect a good few 'luxury' past times will be hit as well as the recovery from COVID plus dealing with the fallout of Russia/Ukraine continues.
Re: Video Game Publisher Bandai Namco Appears To Have Been Hacked
@Piyo for what exactly? If you're talking GDPR and presuming your in the UK - unless you can show any loss etc that you've incurred directly related to the breach you're not going to be in for much at all. And unless you're going to move jobs shortly after then it's not the best idea. Sad but true.
If a malicious actor gets access to a network and managed to get elevated credentials you're screwed pretty much (in the Microsoft world anyway) if PII/sensitive data is stored within the company.
Re: Video Game Publisher Bandai Namco Appears To Have Been Hacked
Hacks are usually phishing or social engineering. That or someone leaving an admin password at the default or an unpatched system found on a scan. There's not a huge deal a skill to it. Access to the right scripts, a botnet or (most likely) a gullible employee and you're in.
Re: YouTuber Ends Metroid Prime Music Covers After Nintendo's Lawyers Call
@NintendoWife Ah okay. I totally agree with the last sentence and you're bang on there.
Music copyright is a bit different than you say. I grew up in a world where you'd buy music on physical media and you'd see this on EVERY CD/Tape etc:
© & ℗ Your name/band name, year. All rights of the producer and of the owner of the work reproduced reserved. Unauthorised copying, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting of this recording prohibited.
Kinda gets ingrained on you
Re: YouTuber Ends Metroid Prime Music Covers After Nintendo's Lawyers Call
Covers have never been fair use. No idea where people have got that from. Played in bands around the UK for years and had PRS (not the guitar company unfortunately) turn up a good few times and grill us to see if we'd played any covers and if our stuff was original.
I wouldn't mind someone covering my stuff for no profit/fun but if someone tried to coin in on it I'd be plenty annoyed. Playing music is hard enough, creating stuff is far harder imho. The YouTuber doing a poor me approach to try and garner sympathy is purely a cynical angle to take as he can no longer profit from other people's work. It's just playing to a David vs Goliath narrative and too many people fall for it.