@Amyrakunejo, you skate, what dis trick called?;D
4 Likes
OUCH!
This was me at the beginning of Marchā¦
5 Likes
@SeekerSupreme lolz āCute Airā
I needed that after realizing that no one in the Kingdom Classic goes F2P thread realized that I have a Steam Key that will NEVER GET USED NOW.
Well, unless I make a second Steam accountā¦ e.e
(but no legitimate player actually does that unless scammed by someone else)
5 Likes
Great name, I like:D
I wouldnāt write off the Kingdom: Classic key just yet.
As the game if now permanently free (Sub ID 521752), it is unlikely that its commercial license (Sub ID 231913) will ever be sold anywhere anymore.
This means that those commercial keys (like the one you have) will be the only way for people to get a license that drops Steam cards. With time those keys will become more and more rare, and the demand for them will grow. Thatās one reason.
The other one is more important. In a decade or so, some assholes might decide this game needs a āremasterā. They might remove the option to acquire the original from the stores and replace it with the new, uglier version (like they did with Kingdoms of Amalur), or the new, all-shit, how-dare-they, fuck-them-forever version (like they did with Heroes of Might and Magic III). In such a case (and time) this key will become VERY valuable.
5 Likes
Some fun numbers and why going console is a difficult thing here over the past few years.
PS2 prices at US launch in 2000 was 299 USD, at that time one dollar was about 1,92 BRL, it would cost without tax approximately 574 BRL. PS2 was only officially launched here at a much later date in 2009 when PS2 was already at a reduced price of only 99 USD (1 USD : 1,73 BRL, 171 BRL at the time), but official prices were of 799 BRL. I was gifted mine (the Slim version) when I was a kid around 2005, much sooner than the official launch, and I could remember the price was about 999 BRL, which was already reduced from the 1499 BRL in 2002. Many people would buy directly in the US and re-sell it here for a higher price, you could find it even in āwallmart-likeā supermarkets.
PS3 would launch in 2006 at a cost of 499 and 599 USD (aprox. 1000 and 1300 BRL at 2,15 conversion without taxes), but the official launch here was about at the same time it was for the PS2 in 2009/2010 and with the Slim version, with official prices of 2000 BRL. But you also could get earlier at much higher prices just like the PS2 story, of course.
Here comes a new challenger! PS4 comes at a much faster pace, arriving here in the same year of the US release in 2013, costing about 399 USD, woah 100 dollars cheaper and itās better than the PS3?! Amazing! But hold on, in Brazil it was 4000 BRL, like, what? The claim was due to government taxes that were equivalent of 63% of the total cost of the console. The dollar conversion wasnāt even that high at the time either, about 2,30. We sure held the record of most expensive console.
Now itās the time for the PS5, weāre currently at 5,34 conversion right now, pretty much in deep shit. It wasnāt a surprise that the cost would be high again this time, 499/399 USD for regular/digital versions, and we would get 4999/4499 BRL, but Sony surprisingly has reduced a little bit with new cost of 4699/4199 BRL. But guess what, with the whole online-only purchase and people being scumbags mass stocking, the same is happening over here and we see it being re-sold at grey markets at absurd prices just like the old days:
Whooping double the original price! The sad part is that desperate people with lots of money and little brain will buy it anyway.
tl;dr Tax sucks and people are scumbags.
8 Likes
Looking at something similar, if not quite as outrageous, on graphics cards in Sweden at the moment. The launch prices for each of the new series costing far and above what the announced US prices suggest, even taking into account currency conversions and taxes. Looking at 3080s right now costing about as much as my budget was for the entire system I built about 10 years ago.
You might say thatās how inflation works or something like that, but CPUs have not seen as drastic a raise in prices and motherboards are pretty much the same, if not cheaper.
Ps5 is on the other hand relatively reasonably priced, 6000 SEK which is only about 40% more than the currency converted 4250 the 499 USD would turn into. Of course that is if you can get one.
7 Likes
@Enki The feels with inflation and how prices vary here for such things in the name of them being luxury items. Some excuse considering that all else is expensive too. Heh.
In cute new, I know my cat love me - 2nd time this month she jumped through the window and mewed loudly: she had bought in a small dead rat. Nice kitty. Look what you did all by yourself. pets
thinking Ew.
5 Likes
There is word that, unfortunately, it appears that AMD is pulling a 2080 Ti with their graphics cards - where the actual MSRP pricing is well above the Reference Card cost. Which sucks, because I was looking at getting a 6800 if they were good (and have a USB-C out)
6 Likes
Surprisingly itās only a 23% uplift vs US MSRP for PS5s and a 45% uplift vs US MSRP for RTX 3080 here in Poland.
Nice to know Iāll be saving so much money when I finally never buy any of it.
6 Likes
6 Likes
People: Talking about expensive tech
Me: Needs hardware upgrading
Also Me: Gets so little she may as well steal everything she needs
Also Also Me: Is angry and stressed out and is about ready to take a police cruiser and ram it through City Hallā¦
3 Likes
Imagine the feels of the people those āgetsā are being extorted from.
3 Likes
6 Likes
Thatās beautiful. Thank you for sharing!
3 Likes
Taxation is theft. I know and recognize this.
It is how I get money every month, but it is meant to be enough to pay living expenses, which mine is not, at least not alone. The fact that they say I could hold a job and make crackerpay, or peanutpay or whatever the terminology is called, and then go back on that if somehow I make too much and not know it, is nonsense. Of course, it just means that I have to work for four hour shifts at minimum wage salary. All sounds well and good. UNTIL YOU GET TO THE PART WHERE EMPLOYERS ARE SECRETLY ALLOWED TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST POTENTIAL HIRES FOR ANY REASON AND NEVER DOCUMENT IT. Happens to me because Iām definitely not an ideal hire, even if Iām willing to work.
Ideal, Best Hiring Process:
- fill out and hand in application directly to manager
- manager holds interview sooner rather than later
- manager asks āAre you willing to work?ā and if the answer is āyesā, youāre hired
- small details, scheduling, initial salary cut, etcetera
- return to the job early on the first scheduled day with something for the manager
Actual Hiring Process:
- deal with a convoluted mess of absolute nonsense
- maybe get an interview
- wait indefinitely for a yes or no answer
- if yes then show up the next day for scheduling and possibly for work
- return to the job early on the first scheduled day with something for the manager
- never ask for a raise or promotion; only given to favorites nowadays
ā¦I think Iāll just sell lemonade. 
4 Likes
Why wouldnāt you? (sell your services/products directly, make your own employment)
4 Likes
Well, most certainly, I am going to, but I am wary of idiots and societal misconduct enforcement, such as those thugs with badges and guns coming around and saying that āi NeEd A lIcEnSeā to do private business, even on my own property.
I support those that run P2P shops, and support those that run them with their defenses bared, saying āIf you intend to make trouble, youāll be sorry.ā
2 Likes
Idiots and government man are unavoidable. Better accept that and just limit the interactions when possible. Shooting them up is not an option. Itās nice to fantasize about it, but no - weād go to jail (and we too pretty to go to jail).
Selling commodities is a relatively high risk, low profit business, with at least some investment needed. (Unless youāre selling trinkets, art etc. on Etsy and the likes, thatās a different story.)
I was mostly thinking about selling your services.
You might not realize it, but your mother tongue is one of the most valuable tools in demand (and certainly the most important one). People pay a lot of money for native speaker interactions and tutoring. Thereās a multitude of delivery options/ possible arrangements and you already have a rig that gives you access to the global market.
Any kind of skill that you might have can be sold as a service - even if you donāt think much of it. Proofreading, copyrighting, graphics editing maybe? (you design games on your own, that takes skills that could be monetized).
4 Likes
Tell me more, in PM if need be. My issue is that I canāt accept online paypment (asfai), as my stupid government sees it as small me getting foreign exchange. How awful, right?
Letās not talk about the politicians in the last party that defrauded the WHOLE COUNTRY of millions and then fled the island.
Anyway, letās chat some more. Iāve often thought about proofreading and other donāt leave the house kinds of things, but not sure how to get into it. So many fraudulent sites out there. >.<
4 Likes
A disclaimer first: Itās been years since Iāve been accepting p2p payments for p2p service delivery, only invoicing businesses now. The government is far up my ass with binoculars, so I can only deal via bank wire transfers. Whatās below comes from general awareness, rather than current experience; so please do the extra google research relevant to your local options/restrictions.
There are several options:
- Bank wire transfers; forget about those, the costs of international transfers (SWIFT/SEPA) will likely exceed the actual transaction amounts, plus youāll get awful auto exchange rates (if thatās even an option in your bank; if not, youāll need to have various accounts for various currencies and manage the exchanges manually)
- PayPal; can accept payments from other PayPal users worldwide Send Money Online | Request Payments | PayPal US ;
can also accept payments from credit/debit cards (and more), but AFAIK you need to set up your own site site to display it on (easy/free, Iāve done it over a decade ago - when PayPal was the only service of this kind)
Accept Payments Online | PayPal Checkout | PayPal US
PayPal Checkout | Secure Credit Card Processing | PayPal US
It seems to be accessible on Barbados Setting up a FREE PAYPAL account in Barbados - Wavy Mag
Donāt know how competitive their exchange rates/fees are. - Revolut; similar to PayPal, but a bit different/better (itās like a no-borders cyberbank on all the steroids, with none of the costs); has the best exchange rates Iāve ever seen, you can juggle funds in different currencies however you like; can accept payments from non-users via personal payment links Revolut ā International Payments
Itās in the US since the beginning of this year, I donāt know if itās available in Barbados. - Service specific offer aggregation portals like preply.com (just an example, thereās a ton of them); typically they can offer you a platform to advertise your services to the right audience and process the payments; usually they take a commission for that
6 Likes