SotW (2/18-2/24) More firings in the gaming industry, a rocky launch, and spending too much time in

Yes, that's right folks, I'm doing a BRAND new SotW! For those that haven't seen this before, SotW stands for Stories of the Week, where I talk about some of the headlines I wasn't able to single out at a given time. While I was working on the website, my YouTube page, and trying to get out more and more reviews, I shelved this little segment for over 6 months. Well it's back baby! Also on a new night too! That's right! I'm going to start posting SotW's on Monday afternoon/nights instead from now on, as Sunday's are a bit wonky for me. However, the news will still be about the previous Monday-Sunday. So let's get right into the news!

First off, there are to be more layoffs in the gaming industry. Yes, after the disastrous firings of what will wind up being nearly 1000 people in both the states, and over seas, from Activision, we now are hearing about more firings. This time, it isn't from Activision, but from ArenaNet, the makers of the fabulous Guild Wars series. Guild Wars is a computer MMO that has seen not only a lot of success, but a lot of critical success, since it debuted back in 2012, and is still active today. However, parent company NCSOFT made an announcement this week that cutbacks were going to happen, as the company just isn't bringing in that much money from the one or two projects it still has out in the market. As Jason Schreier from Kotaku reported, there is no news yet of just how many people at the studio will actually be laid off, there is around 400 people that work there currently. ArenaNet did let it's employees and staff know shortly after the story broke, but still didn't give any details on how many would get axed, besides letting them know that they would be getting 2 months severance out of it. Once again, another prime example of why more Unions and protections are needed here in the states.

Just as I was writing this story though, interestingly enough, Jason also broke news that about a dozen employees from GOG were being let go as well, citing that last year wasn't a great year for CD Projekt Red, the studio that brought us The Witcher 3 not to long ago. The studio released games like Gwent and Thronebreaker to nothing more then the audible sound of a fart. Of course, this has gone mostly quiet compared to the 100's of employees being let go at once but it's just telling how the industry is somewhat eating itself alive. Hopefully everyone affected will have new jobs soon. I wish you all the best.

Next up, Anthem. Why am I talking about Anthem? Well with the rocky "early" launch of the game last week, I think it's important to note that EA needs to look long and hard at their "Games as a Live Service" model, as the last 3 BIG games they have had, all had this release schedule set up, as if it was an atonement for the sins they were about to commit. Now more than ever before, we need to stop pre-ordering games, especially from the likes of EA and Activision, as EA has botched 3 recent releases. Starting back with Battlefront 2, and it's botched launch with lootboxes filled to the brim with M/T, followed up by what can only be described as an unfinished Battlefield V, as well as a rushed Anthem. I already lit up BFV in a review that showcased bugs, glitches, issues, and more from a studio that has put out some really fine work. However, because of investors, EA pushed it out the door, just like they did with Battlefield 4, and look how bad that game was at launch. Yeesh. Now with Anthem, a game sorely lacking endgame content at launch, has had no regard for previous games that showed them both how to do endgame, and how not to do endgame. But with this "Live Service" model, EA acts like it's all alright, and it isn't. This is no longer acceptable, and I will talk more about it in my review coming later in the week. The lesson being taken away is like I said before, seriously wait for reviewers like Angry Joe, Jim Sterling, Skill Up, or myself, whoever your favorite is, and wait for them to say something about these games. A lot of mainstream gaming media has failed us giving Madden games year after year 8.5 and 9's when they are clearly 5's at best. Don't waste your money, let us take the heat for you. I've been doing a good job getting reviews out fairly quickly now, and if you want to take a listen/watch, sub to me on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ5IbIX7Aw02-DuYyUo3V-g

Finally, this last story cracks me up. I wanted to do a video on it, but I just couldn't find the time right now to talk about it, so I figured this was the perfect place to put it. So anyone who knows me, should know that I HATED Fallout 76, which is a real shame, because MP games, plus the Fallout brand should have been a slam dunk, yet this game was a train wreck, and I have a video on that if you want to listen to me talk about it. It was a game so bad, it made me start doing video reviews. Well controversy after controversy, Fallout can't seem to get anything right. Just when you think they did the stupidest thing ever, they out do themselves. Again.

So for those that didn't hear, a player who had put in 900 hours into a game, I can only describe to you as the equivalent of baking bread with power saw, was recently banned by the game that could use just about anyone willing to play that train wreck more then 20 minutes.

Yes, you heard that right, banned.

Why? For having too much ammo.

The fuck?

Yes, player Glorf12 was banned for apparently having too much "rare ammo" being told he had nearly 150k of one particular type of ammo. Glorf12 denies this of course, saying he never had anymore then 36k at a time, and that he merely traded his ammo back and forth with his SECOND account, who the fuck has a second account!? Glorf12 took to reddit to defend his case in front of his peers and Bethesda, Bethesda having even reached out to Glorf12 before his ban, to tell him "thanks for being apart of the community" LOL It's hard to tell who really did fuck up in this instance, as Bethesda claims Glorf12 was using a glitch/cheat in the game to acquire said ammo, but at the same time, refuses to realize the irony of it all as the game is fucking broken.

Either way, I had a serious laugh at this, and figured I'd report about it and let you all know this hilarious story.

So that's it for me, this is a short one, and I'm hoping to bring it back on a more permanent basis. I'll add in more stories as well, but these to me were the biggest of the last week. What did you think of the stories reported? Let me know, and I'll talk to you guys later here, OnTheShelf.