Posted by: fox
« on: 30. October 2023, 06:04:35 »That looks promising, thanks!
Posted by: Toaste
« on: 29. October 2023, 23:05:27 »foxI use LibRedirect extention for that purposes on Firefox.
Posted by: fox
« on: 29. October 2023, 09:38:10 »As long as Invidious works, I would like to try using it in combination with a userscript manager extension like GreaseMonkey so that it redirects every YT-link to Individous. Maybe that way I can still get recommendations and notifications based on the subscriptions linked to my YT-account.
Any recommendations for a privacy respecting open source userscript manager in 2023? I read that GreaseMonkey is buggy and not well supported anymore, TamperMonkey is closed source and not privacy respecting.
Currently eyeing ViolentMonkey but seeing conflicting information about it. Definitely started out as privacy nightmare according to older information but has it changed since then? Are there better alternatives?
Any recommendations for a privacy respecting open source userscript manager in 2023? I read that GreaseMonkey is buggy and not well supported anymore, TamperMonkey is closed source and not privacy respecting.
Currently eyeing ViolentMonkey but seeing conflicting information about it. Definitely started out as privacy nightmare according to older information but has it changed since then? Are there better alternatives?
Posted by: sarge945
« on: 28. October 2023, 02:01:50 »The only safe privacy respecting browser for android is bromite, which seems to also have a lot of really nice features
Posted by: fox
« on: 27. October 2023, 17:41:47 »I like their focus on privacy and have recently installed it on my Android phone. Works alright so far although I don't surf all that much on my phone. I doubt that it has an advantage over APB and uBlock Origin in terms of ad-blocking on desktop PCs in general and YTs newest methods specifically. If it does, please keep us posted.
Edit: Just received my first "YT will be blocked after three videos"-screen, yay! Testing yewtu.be/Invidious now.
Edit: Just received my first "YT will be blocked after three videos"-screen, yay! Testing yewtu.be/Invidious now.
Posted by: JDoran
« on: 27. October 2023, 17:34:18 »Brave Browser (a fork of Chrome, but with better memory management) apparently has it's own built in automatic* Youtube ad supressent, and it is working fine for me. I see *no* advertisments or noticeable pauses, it just works very well. I don't know if Brave works as well in other countries (I'm in England) but I'd recommend anyone to give it a try for watching Youtube.
* I didn't have to select an option re: [X] Don't Show Ads, or install anything extra. I just downloaded Brave and installed it, and it automatically suppresses all Youtube ads. Hopefully, this won't change.
* I didn't have to select an option re: [X] Don't Show Ads, or install anything extra. I just downloaded Brave and installed it, and it automatically suppresses all Youtube ads. Hopefully, this won't change.
Posted by: fox
« on: 27. October 2023, 16:58:29 »We totally live in the cyberpunk age of mega corps, hackers stealing millions and all that. It just turned out a little different to how it was envisioned in the 80s. Pretty damn close though.
We really do. The 80s version had more style though. Current version sucks.
Posted by: icemann
« on: 27. October 2023, 03:07:35 »We totally live in the cyberpunk age of mega corps, hackers stealing millions and all that. It just turned out a little different to how it was envisioned in the 80s. Pretty damn close though.
And YT can try all they like, but people will find alternatives that get around their "You must watch ads to watch our videos mandate". For example one could just download the video to their PC and just watch it that way. Just as people have found ways around copy protection ever since Commodore 64's back in the 80s (with their awesome techno screens that would go with the cracks).
And YT can try all they like, but people will find alternatives that get around their "You must watch ads to watch our videos mandate". For example one could just download the video to their PC and just watch it that way. Just as people have found ways around copy protection ever since Commodore 64's back in the 80s (with their awesome techno screens that would go with the cracks).
Posted by: fox
« on: 26. October 2023, 17:14:03 »icemann
Not yet happening on my end but I'm sure it will within a few days or weeks. I have heared others reporting it too recently. Sucks!
I hope YT gets beat over the head with it somehow but it's not very likely to become a hot topic. Pretty sure that compartmentalized rollout over many months and regions, was purposefully designed to break those waves.
Still, I sincerely believe that, in the long run, YT won't gain but actually lose something from those antics. Maybe not directly but just because people are able to skip some of the most aggressive and atrocious advertising methods (that are actually ruining the experience in many cases and are pretty disrespectful to content creators) doesn't mean this, our fraction of the audience (allegedly up to 30%) isn't profitable for them one way or the other.
What is pretty bad, is that, so far, there really isn't any promising alternative in sight, similar to the search engine situation with Google. We all knew that corporations like Alphabet, MegaCorps really, will start to strongarm us like this at some point, once we let them get this big.
I guess business was sweeter during the pandemic so they need to find a way now to make those very good times happen again, because good is not enough for the suits and shareholders.
Edit: Well, actually the stock price is pretty close to their all-time pandemic high again, so it's probably "very good is not good enough".
Uninteresting tidbit: I haven't owned an actual television device since my last one broke down in 2005 and I have gotten an internet connection with decent enough bandwith for acceptable streaming from YT and similar online sources. The most important reason for my conscious decision against buying another TV was the increasingly horrible advertising, loudly interrupting what I really wanted to see and spend my time (a ressource that only became more valuable over the years) with.
I won't go back to that and I don't see myself paying ever increasing fees for a company that tries to force me and that does live off other peoples uploads. I understand that producing shows and movies and buying licenses from distributors costs a lot of money, so I can justify paying for streaming services like Netflix a lot more.
APB asks for voluntary donations every few months and I gladly send them 15€ each time - simply because I appreciate their work and service. Would YT not be obviously profitable with the way things were so far, and have been for decades, would they not belong to a fucking mega corporation, known to collect and sell every bit of data that they can milk off their users, would they not have started to patronize users and uploaders alike with increasingly shady and manipulative tactics... I guess I would have started donating them instead, because that's my understanding of fairness. As it is, I have zero regrets and feel no obligation to support them, as a platform, at all.
Not yet happening on my end but I'm sure it will within a few days or weeks. I have heared others reporting it too recently. Sucks!
I hope YT gets beat over the head with it somehow but it's not very likely to become a hot topic. Pretty sure that compartmentalized rollout over many months and regions, was purposefully designed to break those waves.
Still, I sincerely believe that, in the long run, YT won't gain but actually lose something from those antics. Maybe not directly but just because people are able to skip some of the most aggressive and atrocious advertising methods (that are actually ruining the experience in many cases and are pretty disrespectful to content creators) doesn't mean this, our fraction of the audience (allegedly up to 30%) isn't profitable for them one way or the other.
What is pretty bad, is that, so far, there really isn't any promising alternative in sight, similar to the search engine situation with Google. We all knew that corporations like Alphabet, MegaCorps really, will start to strongarm us like this at some point, once we let them get this big.
I guess business was sweeter during the pandemic so they need to find a way now to make those very good times happen again, because good is not enough for the suits and shareholders.
Edit: Well, actually the stock price is pretty close to their all-time pandemic high again, so it's probably "very good is not good enough".
Uninteresting tidbit: I haven't owned an actual television device since my last one broke down in 2005 and I have gotten an internet connection with decent enough bandwith for acceptable streaming from YT and similar online sources. The most important reason for my conscious decision against buying another TV was the increasingly horrible advertising, loudly interrupting what I really wanted to see and spend my time (a ressource that only became more valuable over the years) with.
I won't go back to that and I don't see myself paying ever increasing fees for a company that tries to force me and that does live off other peoples uploads. I understand that producing shows and movies and buying licenses from distributors costs a lot of money, so I can justify paying for streaming services like Netflix a lot more.
APB asks for voluntary donations every few months and I gladly send them 15€ each time - simply because I appreciate their work and service. Would YT not be obviously profitable with the way things were so far, and have been for decades, would they not belong to a fucking mega corporation, known to collect and sell every bit of data that they can milk off their users, would they not have started to patronize users and uploaders alike with increasingly shady and manipulative tactics... I guess I would have started donating them instead, because that's my understanding of fairness. As it is, I have zero regrets and feel no obligation to support them, as a platform, at all.
Posted by: icemann
« on: 26. October 2023, 14:37:45 »YT is now showing a popup stating that all video play will be blocked after the next 3 videos have been played. Looks their next step in their anti-ad-blocking campaign is on.
[edit]
Tested loading up another 3 videos and now all playback is blocked, with YT stating that ad-blockers are a breach of their terms of service. Lovely. Well I refuse to have to sit through endless gambling commercials just to watch a video.
However if you go incognito mode (in chrome) then that gets around it, since your not logged into an account that way.
[edit]
Tested loading up another 3 videos and now all playback is blocked, with YT stating that ad-blockers are a breach of their terms of service. Lovely. Well I refuse to have to sit through endless gambling commercials just to watch a video.
However if you go incognito mode (in chrome) then that gets around it, since your not logged into an account that way.
Posted by: icemann
« on: 25. October 2023, 03:23:25 »All the major sports clubs as well.
Posted by: sarge945
« on: 24. October 2023, 20:47:34 »But yeah, gambling commercials are ridiculous over here. Should be banned imo. Governments been very slow to act on it also.
Can't speak for the whole country, but there's good evidence to suggest the NSW government is completely owned by the pokies lobby
Posted by: Nameless Voice
« on: 24. October 2023, 10:51:56 »They finally banned them here this year, but only between 05:30 and 21:00.
Crazy that they didn't ban them entirely, it all seems very predatory.
Most advertising is predatory to some extent, but at least most of the other things aren't generally as addictive or potentially life-ruining.
Crazy that they didn't ban them entirely, it all seems very predatory.
Most advertising is predatory to some extent, but at least most of the other things aren't generally as addictive or potentially life-ruining.
Posted by: icemann
« on: 24. October 2023, 02:43:50 »Oh they sure can. Television is saturated with it throughout the day (1-2 ads per ad break) and YT ads is almost entirely nothing but gambling commercials.
Last year I sent a complaint to one of the TV channels about how many were being shown during the 6pm news (in the ad breaks) and how it normalizes gambling to children. Eventually got a response letter in the mail apologising, which was a surprise.
But yeah, gambling commercials are ridiculous over here. Should be banned imo. Governments been very slow to act on it also.
Last year I sent a complaint to one of the TV channels about how many were being shown during the 6pm news (in the ad breaks) and how it normalizes gambling to children. Eventually got a response letter in the mail apologising, which was a surprise.
But yeah, gambling commercials are ridiculous over here. Should be banned imo. Governments been very slow to act on it also.
Posted by: sarge945
« on: 23. October 2023, 22:20:56 »I didn't think gambling companies could advertise down here? Maybe on age restricted videos.
Posted by: icemann
« on: 23. October 2023, 07:23:53 »Fixed here in Aus too. No gambling commercials to be forced to sit through.
Posted by: sarge945
« on: 22. October 2023, 23:15:32 »It's also magically fixed itself for me overnight.
My suspicious is that YouTube backed off because they were just losing traffic
My suspicious is that YouTube backed off because they were just losing traffic
Posted by: voodoo47
« on: 22. October 2023, 10:31:35 »I would like to live in a world that gives you the luxury of picking a good option, but alas, this is not such a world.
the least bad one it is.
the least bad one it is.
Posted by: fox
« on: 22. October 2023, 10:27:35 »Between these two options, I certainly prefer ad-free delays too.
Posted by: voodoo47
« on: 22. October 2023, 10:23:48 »I'm fine with delays as long as I don't have to see and listen to dumb garbage. I have plenty of that in my life.
Posted by: fox
« on: 22. October 2023, 10:12:59 »Yes, I also notice that that the nag screens seem to have disappeared but that there is an increase in time before a new video actually starts playing, somewhat similiar to the countdown of those sceens. I guess ABP simply managed to hide the screens but not their delaying effect.
I also see videos stopping mid play due to insufficient buffering much more frequently but that may be unrelated and caused by individual bandwith problems on my end.
I also see videos stopping mid play due to insufficient buffering much more frequently but that may be unrelated and caused by individual bandwith problems on my end.
Posted by: voodoo47
« on: 21. October 2023, 16:34:07 »ok yes, now I can see some heavy grinding when certain videos are starting. ABP does seem to be able to chew through them for the time being though.
also 38 blocked elements when I looked at the icon, wow.
also 38 blocked elements when I looked at the icon, wow.
Posted by: sarge945
« on: 18. October 2023, 01:22:26 »Yeah, the nag screens get worse over time, with longer and longer countdowns
Posted by: voodoo47
« on: 17. October 2023, 18:54:57 »was about to say that I don't see any change, but then realized they probably don't really care about the poorer EU regions too much.
either way, life finds a way..
either way, life finds a way..
Posted by: fox
« on: 17. October 2023, 18:11:46 »sarge945
I'll keep it in mind. For now Adblock Plus still seems to work fairly well apart from those skippable nag screens from YT itself popping up a few times a day.
Edit: I think they have just added a little countdown to the nag screen before it becomes skippable...
I'll keep it in mind. For now Adblock Plus still seems to work fairly well apart from those skippable nag screens from YT itself popping up a few times a day.
Edit: I think they have just added a little countdown to the nag screen before it becomes skippable...
Posted by: icemann
« on: 17. October 2023, 13:20:06 »Been seeing those pop up as well. Let's hope they don't stop users from watching videos unless they disable it, at a later stage. Ad blockers are the only thing which keeps YT being watchable on my desktop PC. With the ads it's unbearable.
Posted by: sarge945
« on: 16. October 2023, 22:20:59 »YT is starting to get serious with its anti ad-block nag screens / subscription ads now. So far the can be clicked away but I don't thing that's more than a short transitional phase. Oh god, how I would hate it.
Use yewtu.be instead
Posted by: Nameless Voice
« on: 16. October 2023, 20:33:09 »I've been seeing those recently too. I see that the uBlock Origin team are actively fighting it, though, so we'll have to see who wins.
If it's Google... then maybe I'll finally get some gamedev done in the free time I save from not being able to watch YouTube any more.
If it's Google... then maybe I'll finally get some gamedev done in the free time I save from not being able to watch YouTube any more.
Posted by: fox
« on: 16. October 2023, 16:59:50 »YT is starting to get serious with its anti ad-block nag screens / subscription ads now. So far they can be clicked away but I don't think that this is more than a short transitional phase. Oh god, how I would hate it.
Posted by: Nameless Voice
« on: 23. September 2023, 10:33:58 »The Unreal Engine is great, but of course you are still beholden to a large corporation who owns the engine and could, theoretically, do malicious things down the line. Though considering that what Unity was planning was probably illegal, I doubt Epic will try anything quite like that. No guarantees though!
As for Unity, they've partially backed off from these changes after a huge backlash. They're still bringing in some of the changes, but it will be either a % revenue share, or based on sales numbers, rather than tracking installs. And the changes won't apply to anything made in older versions of the engine. Probably about the best that devs using Unity could expect - at least it will let them finish the games they're currently working on in Unity before switching to a new engine.
There was also a thing where they used to have a GitHub repository with their TOS, which explicitly said that developers can choose to use old terms with old engine versions, and which they removed before they announced these changes. They're now trying to gaslight people with the argument that this was purely coincidental and they removed it because "the views were so low."
You couldn't make this stuff up.
As for Unity, they've partially backed off from these changes after a huge backlash. They're still bringing in some of the changes, but it will be either a % revenue share, or based on sales numbers, rather than tracking installs. And the changes won't apply to anything made in older versions of the engine. Probably about the best that devs using Unity could expect - at least it will let them finish the games they're currently working on in Unity before switching to a new engine.
There was also a thing where they used to have a GitHub repository with their TOS, which explicitly said that developers can choose to use old terms with old engine versions, and which they removed before they announced these changes. They're now trying to gaslight people with the argument that this was purely coincidental and they removed it because "the views were so low."
You couldn't make this stuff up.
Posted by: JosiahJack
« on: 22. September 2023, 01:01:23 »I just downloaded UE5. See how this goes.
Posted by: Nameless Voice
« on: 12. September 2023, 18:13:29 »Unity, one of the big game engines and probably the one that is most-loved by indie studios, have just announced that they will now be charging developers monthly, 20c per install of their games (after the game clears $200,000 revenue for the free version.)
Applying retroactively to all Unity games ever made (is that even legal?)
Presumably this is going to be tracked with some kind of in-engine metrics (with all the privacy implications of that), so will likely include reinstalls, and installs of pirated copies too.
For bonus fun, Unity is used for some mobile apps, where it's common to have free games and either ad revenue or some kind of microtransactions, and those people might well have way more installs than actual income because most people just play for free.
Seems like a really hare-brained decision, will have to wait and see if they roll back on it after the huge backlash, or if they double down.
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/unity-to-start-charging-fee-pegged-to-game-installs
Applying retroactively to all Unity games ever made (is that even legal?)
Presumably this is going to be tracked with some kind of in-engine metrics (with all the privacy implications of that), so will likely include reinstalls, and installs of pirated copies too.
For bonus fun, Unity is used for some mobile apps, where it's common to have free games and either ad revenue or some kind of microtransactions, and those people might well have way more installs than actual income because most people just play for free.
Seems like a really hare-brained decision, will have to wait and see if they roll back on it after the huge backlash, or if they double down.
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/unity-to-start-charging-fee-pegged-to-game-installs
Posted by: fox
« on: 04. June 2023, 12:54:35 »Jason Schreier: "Inside the Making of Redfall, Xbox’s Latest Misfire"
Posted by: sarge945
« on: 06. May 2023, 09:12:32 »Right now, the near future of AA/AAA-ImSims looks bleak (again).
Working on it, just need to hang on for another year or so
Posted by: fox
« on: 04. May 2023, 14:54:03 »I skipped Deathloop due to the very disappointing reviews and I'll skip Redfall too, no way I'm shelling out money for those. I feared that Raphael Colantonio leaving after Prey meant possible trouble. Obviously that can't be the only factor at play but he was a key figure for the company. Kind of like Konrad Tomaszkiewicz (along with a slew of other veterans who quit on them) for CDPR. Edit: Dan Houser leaving Rockstar after RDR2 could mean yet another disaster on the horizon.
"Remember, remember the second of December."
Right now, the near future of AA/AAA-ImSims looks bleak (again).
"Remember, remember the second of December."
Right now, the near future of AA/AAA-ImSims looks bleak (again).
Posted by: JDoran
« on: 03. May 2023, 23:54:00 »Hence why I *still* don't feel the need to buy a current generation console. Every modern game I am even remotely interest in (and there aren't many), ends up not interesting me. Redfall, Deathloop, Gotham Knights, etc.
Posted by: fox
« on: 03. May 2023, 19:38:28 »"Redfall is an absolute catastrophe of a videogame (Review)"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTpFvYbDuqA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTpFvYbDuqA
Posted by: voodoo47
« on: 12. June 2022, 15:23:31 »might as well go down with a bang, I suppose.
Posted by: fox
« on: 12. June 2022, 15:09:18 »One more franchise to scratch from the list. Surprise, surprise.
Posted by: voodoo47
« on: 12. June 2022, 12:54:04 »oooh Diablo Immortal. oooh. like, no words oooh.
Posted by: voodoo47
« on: 22. January 2022, 22:22:50 »"Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard"
just posting it here, you know, for future reference..
just posting it here, you know, for future reference..
Posted by: sarge945
« on: 14. January 2022, 06:15:57 »Electronic Arts will probably own all of the software houses and studios, Disney will own every TV and movie franchise, and Google will be using so much electricity for their servers that the rest of the world will suffer regular blackouts. There will be no innovation in games, no competition to drive down the prices, and gamers will actually have to pay for the bug-fixing patches for their games.
Why did you say "the future might be like this" and then describe the present?
Posted by: fox
« on: 13. January 2022, 16:36:14 »If it's anything like the previous Pimax, it'll be horrible.
The 8k is a fisheye, sickness inducing mess. It's the worst headset I've used.
Yeah, I've heared about such issues with previous Pimax-products but also that they started to improve their products. On paper it sounds better than most, if not all, consumer/enthusiast level headsets so far. At least it was when it was announced a couple of months ago, as far as I know.
My very limited experience with the Rift S didn't convert me into a big VR-fan yet but I sure see great potential if the industry keeps pushing it (HW and SW). Right now it is/would be mostly limited to sim racing and flight simulation for me, for which I built a decent dual-use (cockpit) sim rig over the last year. With the Rift S, it's really not that great (low resolution, lacking clarity etc) and the implementation of a VR mode in most games/sims is still fiddly and feeling improvised, so I still prefer the monitor or beamer instead.
However, from what I've seen, something of the same tier as the Varjo Aero or the upcoming headsets would already make for a totally different story. Just a few technical updates and QoL-improvements can already elevate the sim experience to a new level of immersion. I'm certainly planning on upgrading to something like that within the next few years.
Posted by: icemann
« on: 13. January 2022, 16:22:29 »Who knows. Maybe Tencent will take EA someday. I find the older I'm getting the more change resistant I'm becoming. Like, I now vastly prefer playing games on my PC vs consoles. That said I quite like the Switch, though there's not enough good exclusives on it.
Much of the best games these days tend to come out across all the platforms. So when that's the case, I don't see the point in getting it on anything but PC.
Much of the best games these days tend to come out across all the platforms. So when that's the case, I don't see the point in getting it on anything but PC.
Posted by: JDoran
« on: 13. January 2022, 13:04:52 »whatever they attempt, it will always be too much bother, wires, visors, whatever. I'll just wait for the matrix style headjack.
I'm at the age now (fifty-one) where I'm starting to think about the technology, especially video-game related technology, that I won't live long enough to see. Or that I might live long enough to see, but by then I will be too old, too infirm, and maybe too confused to actually enjoy it. If total immersion VR is even possible, then I won't live to see it.
Mind you, the way gaming is going, I probably wouldn't enjoy total immersion VR anyway. I mean, by the time it comes out, Electronic Arts will probably own all of the software houses and studios, Disney will own every TV and movie franchise, and Google will be using so much electricity for their servers that the rest of the world will suffer regular blackouts. There will be no innovation in games, no competition to drive down the prices, and gamers will actually have to pay for the bug-fixing patches for their games.
And we gamers will deserve all of this, because we are the ones who allowed things to get this way, by tolerating and supporting every customer-hostile idea and product that the games industry dared to try to inflict upon us.
Posted by: sarge945
« on: 13. January 2022, 08:16:24 »The specs of the upcoming Pimax 12K QLED sound pretty good. Remains to be seen if it will actually come out this year. Also you're going to need a high end PC to properly drive it.
If it's anything like the previous Pimax, it'll be horrible.
The 8k is a fisheye, sickness inducing mess. It's the worst headset I've used.
Posted by: fox
« on: 13. January 2022, 03:56:13 »The specs of the upcoming Pimax 12K QLED sound pretty good. Remains to be seen if it will actually come out this year. Also you're going to need a high end PC to properly drive it.
Posted by: icemann
« on: 13. January 2022, 03:24:17 »Apparently the PSVR 2 (Sony's virtual reality headset for the Playstation 5, the successor to the original PSVR for the PS4) will have eye tracking as standard.
Nice
Posted by: voodoo47
« on: 12. January 2022, 15:59:17 »whatever they attempt, it will always be too much bother, wires, visors, whatever. I'll just wait for the matrix style headjack.
Posted by: JDoran
« on: 12. January 2022, 15:44:31 »Apparently the PSVR 2 (Sony's virtual reality headset for the Playstation 5, the successor to the original PSVR for the PS4) will have eye tracking as standard.
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