That makes more sense. I can see how it simplifies things. It still seems like a decision that is lazy and disregards the players.

What is the reason for this? Laziness?

If it were government controlled, it would be accountable to the people, to the extent that the government is democratic (ideally, much more than it is now), and would also be run as a service rather than for profit.

In the short term, I think that collectively being Karens about it would be able to reverse the pressure, by steering the monopolists away from oppressing us. Because they are mainly motivated by money.

In the long term, take away their monopoly power.

I meant pressing the payment processors, like those prude activists are.

Just because they always have been doesn’t mean it’s good. It’s definitely not good for private companies to have monopoly power like that. That power will only be used for their gain (and our collective loss).

I am a strong believer in democracy. I don’t think that the answer to a bad government is to reduce the power of the government, because that power will inevitably go to undemocratic institutions. Only the government is accountable to the people. So even when the government is currently controlled by people I dislike, I still want more things to be brought under the power of the government rather than privatized.

The answer to bad government actions, in my view, is to fight for a more democratic government, and zealously advocate for good ideas among the voting population.

Since this is caused by activist pressure on the payment processors, perhaps a grassroots activist campaign of our own could change their mind. Especially if we threaten to stop using their services in favor of any competitor that allows all legal purchases.

In theory, crypto could be good for this, but crypto is used (and designed) more as an investment than a transaction tool.

Also, the issue here is not centralized currency under a government, it’s centralized payment processing under monopolistic private companies. Crypto is not required to solve that, all that is needed is an alternative payment processor (in an ideal world, probably a public one run by that government, since in a modern world that seems like an essential service to me).

IMO they should have put their money into making it good before pushing it on users so aggressively, instead of apparently never since it’s been years and they still haven’t made the user experience good.

I didn’t watch The Game Awards myself, I mostly just know what I’ve heard about it being more of an industry advertising event rather than a real awards ceremony. And from what I’ve seen of this year’s they aired an obvious AI art trailer and they snubbed ZZZ for the music category, so they’re just reinforcing my lack of respect for them.

NZXT Flex customers have never experienced a pre-tax subscription price increase and will never experience one unless they decide to switch subscription tiers.

I think they’re forgetting the part where GN themselves were a NZXT flex customer who experienced subscription price increases. So this statement is already proven to be false before they even said it.