Patrick Dane

I'm deeply confused about what inspired this, but also, I suddenly have an urge to correlate all my Overwatch clips to the sound of Linkin Park's Numb.

I love to play a rogue character in DnD, what can I say?

Me in every management sim.

Despite knowing nothing about F1 when the first game came out, I loved ditching Stroll and Vettel for Tsunoda and Schumacher's son to create a young team that dominated. It never did, but man, I love management sims.

I'm being careful with any freelance I'm taking on just yet, but just to say, if anyone has need of a couple of guides for Marvel Rivals 3.5 or Battlefield work, I'm open to talking!

Sony On Marathon, Live-Service Strategy: "It's Not Entirely Going Smoothly" Sony has addressed concerns regarding Marathon's delay and its broader live-service strategy during a shareholders meeting.

Sony has addressed shareholders concerns regarding the delay of Marathon and its overall live-service strategy.

Said CFO Lin Tao: "It’s not entirely going smoothly, but from a longer-term perspective... you see that there has definitely been change."

thisweekinvideogames.com/news/sony-on...

So, this is a tricky one. I’ve decided to step back from the Escapist after just a few weeks. This was my decision, motivated by personal and creative reasons.

I’ve nothing but appreciation for Aleksha and Em, who I worked most closely with.

It sometimes happens in professional life that you realise something isn’t a good fit, and it’d be a disservice to everyone to continue. This is just one of those times. Apologies for getting everyone to update their books!😅

I'm taking the week to recalibrate. See you soon! ✌️

So, this is a tricky one. I’ve decided to step back from the Escapist after just a few weeks. This was my decision, motivated by personal and creative reasons.

I’ve nothing but appreciation for Aleksha and Em, who I worked most closely with.

One thing I've always preached is to set up a question in the intro (is this a good continuation of the franchise, can it overcome x perception), and then pay off that question in the conclusion. Just creates a nice bookend in the middle.

I'm talking about how Blade will affect the upcoming Marvel Rivals meta.

My heart goes out to everyone at IGN affected. I feel genuine remorse for the industry. The talent bleed, where we are. Those days of 2014-2020 were so hopeful and something unique, and publishers have failed good, sustainable work every step of the way.

Today, IGN Entertainment announced that it would be laying off eight members of the IGN Creators Guild. This is 12% of our bargaining unit, and comes just days after our sister union, the Ziff Davis Creators Guild, underwent similar layoffs impacting 15% of their members. It also comes just months after our multibillion-dollar parent company, Ziff Davis, instituted a company-wide buyout that shrunk our unit numbers, with the express intent of avoiding future layoffs. And it comes just a little over one year after three of our members were laid off almost immediately after our union went public. The company has told us that the reason for this layoff stems from a Ziff Davis-mandate to cut costs despite several quarters in a row of year-over-year revenue increases, to which IGN Entertainment responded by coming for our members' jobs. This is perplexing to us, as we are told again and again that IGN Entertainment has had a tremendously successful year thus far thanks to their hard work. In just the last few months, our members have been absolutely essential to major events and livestreams, including San Diego ComicCon, Summer of Gaming, and IGN Live. Every single person impacted today was involved in and critical to the success of those events. Meanwhile, IGN Entertainment continues to spend money on costly acquisitions, only to turn around and gut those companies in the same way it is cutting away at IGN itself. For instance, last year, it acquired Gamer Network, and almost immediately laid off a number of staff critical to making those sites successful. The company has not responded to the union's questions about whether its budget for future acquisitions is being reconsidered as a cost-saving measure alongside these other apparently necessary personnel cuts. At a time when it is more necessary than ever to support its creators, IGN Entertainment is choosing to eliminate the individuals who ensure IGN remains competitive as generative AI

threatens our reach. We have been told that expert opinion pieces, original interviews, and work that leverages our staff's deep knowledge of gaming, tech, and entertainment are all essential to combating AI summarization and regurgitation of our work. Management has responded by cutting several individuals who do that exact work, as well as others whose job it is to ensure that these written and video pieces are published in a speedy manner — another component of combating AI we're told is critical. This continued cycle of repeated, aggressive cuts to our staff and being asked to do more with less, only for management to continue to spend on new business it isn't interested in sustaining cannot continue. We will enforce our interim agreement that guarantees better severance and other protections to laid off members, as well as demand additional support for those impacted. We will continue to bargain over our first contract with the aim of enshrining even better protections against further layoffs, working conditions continuously degraded by understaffing, and the encroachment of generative AI. And we won't stop fighting to ensure IGN remains the best destination for trustworthy, original, exciting, and creative work covering video games, entertainment, and tech. While IGN Entertainment management may not value us, we value one another and the incredible work we can do together. Behind the articles, videos, social posts, playlists, and maps of IGN are human beings, not just numbers on a spreadsheet to be pushed around when some number at the top isn't big enough. Without us, there is no IGN.

Today, IGN laid off eight extremely valuable members of our union and workforce via directive from our parent company, Ziff Davis. This, after two incredibly successful live events IGN Live and SDCC, and yet another corporate acquisition.

Please take a moment to read and share our full statement:

One of the best to do it. You did amazing work.

😮‍💨

I genuinely wish more major players in this space spoke up for those facing rampant harassment! Especially when those major players are comfortably employed while those who were forced to fight alone may not be!

God damn. Been struck down with a killer migraine has messed up so much. Genuinely not felt this way in a long time. Blurgh. Was existed to see Battlefield tonight, but alas.

As you get older, you learn what you love. At this point, my goal is to buy a house in a forest, preferably where it rains all the time, and just play TTRPGs.

Good wifi to play Destiny and Overwatch would be a nice bonus. But man, unreal how much my urge to disconnect is.

One thing Pasqual gets right about Mr. Fantastic is that the character is not himself if he's not worried. Reed Richards is the most worried man on the planet, and Pedro nails 'the more you know, the scarier life is' while having the burden of being the smartest man alive.

I love DnD, man, and by extension, my DnD group.

As a person who was recently unemployed, I owe it all to those little treats.

Sure, sling it over!

I'd definitely love to try it out sometime. The sense I get is broader TTRPG community thinks DnD gets in the way of itself with slow combat, but I do genuinely like that aspect. Definitely interested in the narrative potential, but hard to untangle how effective it is out of marketing speak.

Me watching Daggerheart videos to understand how the game works.

As happens with players, I've penciled in ideas for newer characters that are more tightly defined.

Lucian definitely has one too many things going on, being a Changeling, Surgeon, Ghost Rogue, and it's tough to always blend those - but he's my imperfect boy, and he'll always be my first PC.

certified good lad looking good af imo

God I love DnD. I lost touch with creative writing and public performance, two things that used to be core to my interests in high school. It's been so fun to connect with that again alongside gifted storytellers doing fun work around me. Proud of how far my lad Lucian has come in five months.

Me last night, 150 feet above the ocean, in the claws of a Black Dragon.