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From: Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
Subject: Re: Dear Publishers; Can We Please Stop...
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2024 21:10:42 -0400
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On Mon, 17 Jun 2024 13:35:38 -0500, Mandrake <prmandrake@gmail.com>
wrote:

>Mandrake wrote:
>> candycanearter07 wrote:
>>> Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote at 15:01 this 
>>> Sunday (GMT):
>>>> On Sun, 16 Jun 2024 06:30:03 -0000 (UTC), candycanearter07
>>>> <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote at 01:44 this 
>>>>> Sunday (GMT):
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Dear Publishers,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Can we /please/ stop with the "this game uses automatic savepoints and
>>>>>> this icon will flash on your screen when it happens, press button to
>>>>>> continue" message at the start of every game?
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Honestly, I don't fully get why they even flash an icon anymore. Unless
>>>>> you only have one file internally and keep writing over it, there isn't
>>>>> much risk for file corruption..
>>>>
>>>> I'm not opposed to that. It lets me know -in the rare instances that I
>>>> notice it- that the game has been saved. For some games where
>>>> autosaves aren't too frequent, it's a useful indicator; a sign of
>>>> safety and reassurance. "All your hardwork in that last section will
>>>> be preserved and you won't have to redo it." Yay!
>>>>
>>>> Of course, with some other games, which save every twenty six steps I
>>>> move forward, it's less useful. ;-)
>>>>
>>>> I suspect the whole thing though is due to some requirement by console
>>>> manufacturers who - back when autosaves were a new thing - demanded it
>>>> be put in place by game publishers, and it's just stuck around since
>>>> then. Partly to remind console gamers - who up to that point were used
>>>> to just flicking the power switch on their device whenever they were
>>>> done playing it, rather than waiting for disk activity to stop - and
>>>
>>> People will probably always force shut off to quit. I do it too
>>> sometimes.
>>>
>>>> partly to advertise the fact that these new consoles had built in
>>>> storage now. Sort of like how publisher logos initially were a
>>>> response to console manufactuers demanding that the game show
>>>> something -anything!- within five seconds of loading a game, and a
>>>> short movie (or splash screen) showing the publisher name was the
>>>> quickest way to meet that requirement.
>>>
>>>
>>> Oh, really? I didn't know that, cool!
>> 
>> Are there any ghost stories about people who shut it off during autosave 
>> and wrecked their console?
>
>If it poses a tangible risk, then it is justified.  It bothers me some, 
>but by the time I'm playing I'm not thinking about it other than 
>following the instructions when necessary.  Do you think they should 
>remove the warning about seizures and epilepsy too?  Just another 
>annoyance that should go...
>
>I'm not proud to play Devil's Advocate, but this has been a very 
>one-sided conversation thus far.

I got triggered by the issue because a game I'm playing requires
five(!!!!) "press button to continues" before it drops you to the main
menu (well, technically, the first one is to "skip" the intro
cutscene. Another is the aforementioned autosave notification, and
then, yes, one for the requisite epilepsy warning. I forget what the
last button press was for; probably a 'this game made by a
multicultural team' claptrap). And it didn't just want me to 'press"
but a 'press and hold for three seconds' lest I accidentally skip
past.

It is not that I am necessarily against the message itself. Just
requiring people to acknowledge the fact. Or making it a completely
separate screen. Heck, put it on the loading screen that we'll
inevitably have to watch. Or make it a one-time thing rather than at
every launch.

Especially since the things are so unnecessary. Even if you press the
power-button on the console, you aren't really turning it off
directly. The OS will soft-shutdown, and autosaves will probably
happen anyway. You'd have to yank the power-cable to potentially lose
data, and if you do that regularly, you DESERVE to lose your save
games ;-)