one of them cute little desert cats i forget the name

Dan

I’d read it lol

Despite all my scrolls I’m still just a cat fighting gnolls

Despite all his rage, he’s still just a cat on a page!

Those warrants from the ICC can’t come quickly enough!

That’s gonna leave a mark! 😄

Fun fact: opera can be used as an effective form of self defense. Being trained to resonate clearly throughout a packed opera hall without amplificatuon enables you to produce very

We’re talking “tiny woman who happens to be a trained soprano bursting the ear drums of a would-be attacker with nothing but a high note” loud!

I’m reluctant to ask but… WTF is a JABBER’S SOAP??

But doesn’t the change open up for litigation in small claims court?

More like mandates it. For those who live in the country to even have ACCESS to it. The vast majority of Steam users don’t (while the US has more users than any other single country, it’s still only ~14m out of 120m) and would also need a lawyer licensed to practice in both countries afaik.

So nah, I don’t suspect that this change will benefit the users in general, rather the opposite…

I don’t think it is. If it’s anything like the US court systems I know more about (criminal, juvenile, immigration, main civil court), it’s extremely backlogged already.

And that’s even before considering jurisdiction and how much more a lawyer licensed to practice in at least two countries charges.

Even IF you decided to go through with it in spite of everything, you could easily end up spending thousands of dollars fighting an $80 case and STILL be likely to lose.

Which is why it’s best to let the user choose rather than force one or the other.

The reason why we always hear about companies forcing arbitration is because arbitration is best for them when it comes to the big stuff that the news report on, compared to court.

The reason why we never hear about the opposite is twofold:

1. it doesn’t happen as often and

2. “yamanii didn’t get their refund approved even though they were entitled to according to the rules” isn’t something that makes headlines or even makes it to court.

as I understand it, arbitration is still available (if both parties agree, I assume), it’s just not a requirement anymore.

Unless the OP is a forgery of some sort, you evidently DON’T understand it.

still seems to me that consumers are getting more options which is usually a good thing.

Nope. They’re switching from one mandatory method which favors companies liable to get into big disputes where a court case is advantageous to the consumer, which isn’t the case with them, to one that favors a company wanting to avoid a lot of issues too small to warrant a lawyer.

It’s not anywhere near as bad for consumers as when a utility company that poisons thousands of people forces everyone to corporate-friendly arbitration procedure (likely with the “neutral” third party much less neutral than the ones Valve used), but it’s certainly not GOOD for Steam users to not be able to complain without lawyering up.

Forcing you to shut up or go to court isn’t great either, though.

On the big stuff where they’re liable for a lot of money and you might be able to get a pro bono lawyer, sure.

On the small stuff, though, the prospect of having to pay for a lawyer and likely have your case thrown out by a judge for not being worth the expense and effort of suing a foreign company is probably going to deter a LOT of legitimate claims.

If, for example, I want to return a game in accordance with the rules and they won’t let me, I’m not gonna lawyer up and sue them from the other side of the Atlantic.

US government and insisting on aiding and abetting crimes against humanity no matter what the people want. Name a more iconic duo.

I don’t know enough about the SPECIFIC conditions to know what he SHOULD do, but I don’t have to in order to recognize that the solution to a dysfunctional government isn’t a sledge hammer or any other kind of wanton destruction.

He ran for office dressed as his vigilante alter ego “Captain Ancap” wielding a symbolic chainsaw at the very concept of government while talking about how his top advisers are the clones of his dead dog and that’s exactly how he’s been governing as well.

Several reasons. Most of them related to bigotry, right wing politics and dehumanizing of minority groups, but I repeat myself.

When you don’t consider your enemy human, it’s your own actions that become inhumane as a result.

Most economists don’t attribute economic performance to leadership until their own budgets and policies have been in effect for 6-12 months

Most world leaders don’t dismantle their entire system with the sense and carefulness of a coked up toddler from day 1.

Add a special animosity towards anything that provides stability and financial security to the country as a whole or any non-rich person and you get dramatic worsening of conditions REALLY fast no matter how bad it already was.

Wouldn’t call 75 years a SPEEDrun but yeah, it definitely seems like they’re going for the 100% completion achievement…

Isn’t Meowgoth just a black cat? 😛

In the TV series, they hinted at plans of VaulTec to profit off of their vaults with starting off the war with a first strike.

HINTED? They flat out SHOWED it happening!