Gaming

Team Mak – My personal opinion

Entering a room full of strangers, I couldn’t help but think ‘Have I been here before’? The familiarity in a smile and basic conversation made this particular meeting flow quite easily. Multiple outstretched hands gave me the warmest welcome and I no longer felt the anxiety in the pit of my stomach. Needless to say, he was still confused as to why he was here. I looked at my ticket. Guest – Tuesday night – “Game Night”. I smiled, ‘This definitely sounds like something that is going to match my enthusiasm.’ The stance of the founders Peter and Helen McKenna impressed me deeply as they joined this unified group and yet they spoke like true born leaders: bold, expressive but humble. Talking like a friend, feeling like a distant relative and as admirable as a mentor – the magical mix that is McKenna’s.

As the evening progressed, I became more familiar with what it meant to be part of a system that has endless opportunities: mentally marking the pros in my head. I started thinking, ‘I might as well have a bit of success in this life. I too should choose to live an independent life. I would also start my own business.

What did i hear?

Real People – Real Stories – Speaking truths about where they came from, how they got to where they are now and where they are yet to be.

Too well he knew the phrase “work for man.” I have been one of many who have spent a lifetime working various jobs and, as a result, with little or no social life. Isolated from society, friends and family, what for? A paycheck? No thanks, I didn’t want a place to run in the rat race anymore. Team Mak has taught me the true meaning of what it is to live young and free.

The Mak team has not only presented me with a life plan that goes far beyond what I originally set out to do, but has shown me hope for a better life. They have given me a vehicle to race so that I can achieve these great goals in my life step by step. Not alone, this comes with constant guidance from those who have gone before us and have shown this strategy to work. An upline of support, so to speak.

I can only write about my experience and the experience that I have been exposed to has been phenomenal. They always treat me with respect no matter what, and I never leave without a sore face from smiling too much. Team Mak cares about the people it works with. This is no ordinary sales team, this is a family. A community of people who choose to be in good company with other people who want to prosper in all areas of life, not just financially.

Over the past 30 years, Team Mak has grown into one of the largest Amway teams in Australia and has spread to all different areas of the world. Their difference is their strength and that’s their massive support network and strong foundation. I am also well aware, thanks to my personal friends, that there are people who have encountered bad sales reps at Amway or have heard of someone who has. Calling it a ‘pyramid scheme’ and giving it up because they didn’t like the way it was sold to them. Don’t be fooled, it is no such thing. It is a respectable business opportunity that I would ask any of my beloved friends and family to participate in. It challenges you as a person and allows you to grow in a safe environment that you can trust.

I enjoy the charismatic atmosphere that Team Mak has provided; I look forward to the day when you create a team of your own that is as bright-eyed and as excited as I am! It’s a genuine opportunity to get out there and earn money while you have time to make your dreams come true. However, the most important thing is that I hope that no one closes their mind to something that will benefit their future due to a bad experience. Experience Team Mak instead.

People, Purpose and Passion for Living.

Health Fitness

Carbohydrate Cycling For Weight Loss: Does It Work?

The carb cycle is a diet program where you combine high-carb days with low-carb days and sometimes no-carb days to burn fat and promote weight loss. In this way, the dieter does not suffer some of the negative consequences of a purely low-carbohydrate diet plan, such as depriving the body of macro-nutrients (which are carbohydrates, fats, and proteins). Most diet programs generally limit your food choices; However, the carbohydrate cycle advocates a number of general principles of healthy eating, as well as moderation of carbohydrate intake. The carbohydrate cycle diet forces the body to metabolize fat and protein to generate a substance called ketone. Ketones are the result of the body burning fat for energy.

In general, you can go for 3 low carb days followed by 1 high carb day, then go back to low carb days. Alternatively, you can opt for 2 low carb days followed by 1 high carb day and then 1 no carb day. Your total calorie intake on low carb days should also be less. When starting the diet, you need to calculate your required daily calorie intake and calculate the required amount of carbohydrates that you should eat. If your goal is a healthy weight loss of one to three pounds per week, try to make sure your calorie intake on low carb days is low enough to help you achieve this goal. It’s a great idea to participate in hard workouts on a high carb day.

The carb cycle focuses more on carbohydrates (and not protein or fat) because carbohydrates seem to have the most influential effect on body composition and your appearance. The easiest way to get started on the carb cycle is to stick with the plan and then adjust from there. Once you have mastered a particular carbohydrate cycling strategy of your choice and are ready to fine-tune your nutrition, the next step would be to adjust your carbohydrate intake for each individual meal to suit your body and your goals. At this point, it may be wise to hire a coach to help you make these adjustments.

Aside from variable carbohydrate intake, most carbohydrate cycle or rotation diet programs also promote a diet of healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, high-fiber carbohydrates, low saturated fat, and a moderate intake of healthy unsaturated fats. Many also recommend avoiding any form of refined sugar and refined carbohydrates, except natural sugar from fruits.

Let me give you some important advice here, keep in mind that a high carb day should not be a day to eat all the junk food available. However, don’t be afraid to indulge yourself with different types of high-calorie foods, as long as total carbohydrates are taken into account.

Most people find the carb cycling procedure much more convenient due to the fact that high carb days are comfortably accommodated. Thus, common unwanted side effects such as reduced ability to burn fat, great desire to eat, and lack of proper exercise due to weakness are exempted. This is because carb-rich days replenish muscle glycogen levels, leaving you feeling good and energetic.

If your goal really is to gain as much muscle as possible while keeping fat gain to a minimum, then the carb cycle is an ideal strategy. Ultimately, it is possible to use this approach to gain long-term lean muscle. So, Carbohydrate Weight Loss Cycle – Does It Work? The judgment is yours and a test will certainly prove the suitability of this diet method.

Legal Law

10 tips for creating a memorable wedding reception

The most memorable wedding reception is rarely the most expensive, the most elaborate, or the most time-consuming, but it is more likely to involve the most foresight and planning. Our experts are talented at finding what matters most and including the most meaningful memory-making event for each couple.

  1. Plan an eventful wedding – Oh, the thrill of a wedding that acknowledges grandparents, parents, and other lifelong relationships! How about planning your amazing big day on a grandparent’s anniversary? Invite the grandparents to stand at the head table with the bride and groom and celebrate their day with music and dances themed of the time.
  2. Combine a holiday celebration – Christmas will never be the same again, and no one will forget your anniversary when you combine your day with a vacation. And the decoration? It’s all a holiday flutter, paired with wedding bells, lace, and white satin. What could be better? Can you define the holidays without your wedding party?
  3. Set a theme to celebrate – Seasonal or vintage, themes can be a fun way to add memorable content and even a timestamp to a wedding. Perhaps, the era of the birth of the bride and groom?
  4. Black tie and masquerade – Gather all your plans for a masquerade ball and present the most mysterious one with a fun prize for his costume. One of my favorites combines this formal event with ‘famous couples’ and combines the winning musical selections with a magical theme of great music.
  5. Informal afternoon tea – a quartet of stringed instruments playing as the sun sets low in the western skies might be a better choice for the more casual yet memorable event. Bring in the rain with some rain-provoking tunes.
  6. Breakfast with strollers – when the coffee is hot, the air offers an early morning freshness and the musicians stroll through the audience, what could be more memorable at your wedding reception than the musicians playing in the early morning?
  7. Music and dancers of the Big Band era – Attendance at the wedding can be even more fun when everyone is dancing, but if the attendees are not dancers, maybe the dancers on stage can give you some tips and ideas. Inspiring a line dance or group dance can be a good option, if you want more action among the guests, but any musical dance from the big band era can be fun for multiple age groups.
  8. Cover band entertainment – current melodies, selected by the many hours of memories scrambled with words, music and hours of time together, improving life before, during and after the wedding. A selection of popular tunes can inspire you to dance.
  9. Caps for special shows – Showcase a favorite singer, artist-like tribute artist submits memory-making show tunes from outstanding talented singers.
  10. Moments of memory creation – Whether your music is relevant or classical, the melodies you show at your wedding will be the most memorable music of your life. I still know every word of ‘The Rose’ and ‘Ever Green’ even 35 years after the fact …
Lifestyle Fashion

How to Slowly Smoke a Pork Loin Recipe

Whole pork tenderloins can be found in almost every grocery store. It’s a fairly inexpensive cut of meat to marinate, rub, and simmer in a smoker. And for large groups, it’s a perfect, easy-to-serve dish … one that’s different and will make your missions complement you all night long.

The whole pork tenderloin is found on both sides of the pig’s spine. It is usually around 30 “long and can be divided into different” roasts. “You will see that these are referred to as” Top loin roast “or” Center loin roast. “Smaller, more manageable piece of meat.

I prefer to buy the whole pork tenderloin at stores like Costco or Sam’s and do the trim myself. It is quite easy and with a sharp knife you can do it yourself in no time.

You’ll want to remove the meat from the packaging first and rinse it quickly. Next, trim the silver skin (thin, “silver-colored” skin), as well as any excess oil that may be attached. After a few minutes of trimming, you should have a clean piece of lean meat.

It is not necessary to remove all fat, but large deposits should be removed. Smaller bits of fat will melt during cooking and keep the meat moist. At this point, you can divide the entire tenderloin into smaller sections or leave it whole. It depends on the size of your smoker and how many people you want to serve.

Tenderloin can be used for a number of things: it can be cured and made into Canadian-style bacon, cut into pork chops (tenderloin chops), cut into country-style ribs, or smoked whole. But with this recipe we are going to smoke the whole loin. This is a perfect recipe for a backyard barbecue or a big party.

To smoke it whole, you will need a few things:

• Smoker for indirect cooking

• Wood and charcoal as fuel

• “The BBQ Rub” by Killer Hogs.

• Marinade

• Meat thermometer

Pork itself doesn’t have much flavor, but best of all, you can infuse it with just about any flavor you like. I do this by marinating the whole tenderloin overnight.

The marinade consists of:

• 1 cup of apple juice

• 1 cup of pineapple juice

• Cup of olive oil

• Cup of red wine vinegar with garlic

• Cup of Dijon mustard

• Cup of maple syrup

• Cup of molasses

• 2 tablespoons kosher salt

• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper

• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• Fresh thyme, parsley and oregano (a few sprigs of each chopped together)

Combine the ingredients for the marinade in a large saucepan and heat gently. It does not need to boil; just heat it enough to combine the flavors

Cool the marinade and place the whole tenderloin in a large bowl. I use a 3 gallon zip lock bag, but any container large enough for the task will work.

Pour marinade over tenderloin and refrigerate overnight or at least 4 hours. The longer you let it sit in the marinade, the more flavor will get into the meat.

When you’re ready to cook the tenderloin, remove it from the marinade. Let excess marinade drip off before applying next step.

Now is the time to season the whole tenderloin.

I use The BBQ Rub. because it has the perfect amount of sweetness, flavor and spiciness … but you can use whatever seasoning you prefer.

Start with some Dijon mustard all over the tenderloin first and then sprinkle with The BBQ Rub.

Let the whole tenderloin rest while the smoker reaches the proper temperature. Your smoker should be 225 degrees with light smoke. For the wood I use cherry. The smoke from the cherry adds a pleasant, smooth flavor all the way through and won’t overload you with harsh flavor.

Once the smoker reaches temperature, place the tenderloin on the grill and enjoy a cold drink. The hard work is done and now is the time to let the smoker do his job.

Hold 225 degrees and in 2 hours check and see what the internal temperature is. The target temperature is 145 degrees and it will take approximately 3 to 4 hours for the tenderloin to reach this temperature.

If you overcook it, the meat will be very dry, which is why I start checking the internal temperature at 2 hours … and then I continue to check it every 20 – 30 minutes until it reaches an internal temperature of about 135 – 140 Once it reaches this internal temperature, it’s time to start glazing the pork tenderloin.

For my pork tenderloin glaze, I like to mix pineapple juice and 50:50 barbecue sauce and brush the outside of my tenderloin. Also, you can add apple jelly, preserves, honey, or anything sweet to the outside of the tenderloin at this time. Adding a sweet glaze at the end will complement the flavor of the pork and keep it from burning.

Keep a close eye on the enamel because it will darken quite quickly. It is important not to have the heat too high when frosting. Caramelizing sugars can go from a rich, sweet taste to a dark bitter in minutes.

I like to let the glaze sit on the pork tenderloin and “bake” for about 30 minutes.

When the tenderloin reaches the desired internal temperature, 145 internal, remove it from the smoker, loosely cover your tenderloin with aluminum foil and let it rest for 15 minutes.

Removing it from the smoker at 145 and standing will allow the natural juices to redistribute throughout the meat. This is an important step and should not be skipped. Don’t worry about the pork tenderloin “going cold” because after the standing period it will still be very hot … but it will not lose all the juices as it would if you cut it up immediately.

Once rested, it’s time to slice the tenderloin and enjoy.

Serving suggestions are to simply cut the tenderloin into medallions (about 1 to 1.5 inches thick) and fan them in a platter, adding a bowl of your 50:50 BBQ sauce and pineapple juice to the side for dipping.

Or you can arrange your medallions on slip rolls and serve with a garnish of spicy mustard or Dijon.

Pets

Helpful Tips to Remember When Buying Exotic Pets for Sale

Exotic pets are basically animals that are often overlooked when people think of having pets to care for at home. In other words, these animals are out of the ordinary as you won’t see them in most homes in your neighborhood. Exotic animals are a great option for people who are tired of the usual dogs and cats. These animals are also called non-traditional pets because they are not the type of pets that most people today would rather have. Some of the most popular exotic animals for sale today include lemurs, coatis, kangaroos, kinkajous, and genets.

Before you go out and buy an exotic pet to take home, you should first consider why you are buying one. Are you doing this to appear macho in front of other people? If so, you’d better forget to do it. Keeping exotic animals at home requires a long list of responsibilities. Since exotic animals are out of the ordinary, the kind of care they will need from pet owners will likely be of the same kind. The task of caring for exotic animals should never be taken lightly, as these animals also have life. Life is sacred and should always be respected no matter what form it is in. In addition to the kind of unusual care you will need to provide for an exotic pet, you will also need special accommodation and food. Now, if you really like taking care of exotic animals, you can proceed to research on the type of exotic pet that will best suit you. When doing your research, be sure to choose an exotic pet that is legal where you live.

The next thing to consider when buying exotic animals would be the size of the animal that you are taking home. Here, be sure to search for details on how big your choice of exotic pet will grow once it becomes an adult. Keep in mind that while some exotic animals can look very cute when they are still babies, they can grow into gigantic creatures when they grow up. The larger a pet, the more space it will need for her. In addition to this, larger exotic animals can also be more difficult to handle.

Another good thing to consider is the type of food your exotic pet choice will need. Exotic animals usually require special types of food. With this fact, you need to know where you can get food for your exotic pet and how much it will need on a regular basis.

Real Estate

The Total Cost of Inventory: Exploring Inventory Holding Costs

For most retailers, wholesalers, and distributors, inventory is the largest single asset on their balance sheet. In many ways, your inventory defines who you are and your strategic position in the market. Define your customer’s needs and their expectations of you. Legions of cost counters are employed to accurately capture and capitalize all direct inventory costs. The cost of that inventory is the largest expense item on most income statements.

Most companies evaluate their inventory productivity through criteria such as inventory turnover, gross margin return on investment, gross margin return in square footage, and the like. These are all valuable tools for evaluating inventory productivity, but they are all limited by the fact that they use inventory at cost as the cost basis in their analysis.

The actual cost of inventory extends well beyond inventory to cost or cost of goods sold. The cost of managing and maintaining inventory is a significant expense in and of itself, but the true cost of inventory doesn’t even stop there. The total cost of inventory, in fact, is buried deep within a series of expense items below the gross margin line, almost challenging any executive, manager, or cost accountant to actually get them out, quantify, and manage them.

Studies of inventory maintenance costs have estimated that these costs are approximately 25% per year as a percentage of the average inventory for a typical business. While this information is interesting, it is not particularly useful. To manage the cost of carrying inventory, it must first be measured.

Generally recognized components of inventory holding cost include inventory finance charges or the opportunity cost of inventory investment, inventory insurance and taxes, materials handling charges, and warehouse overheads not directly associated with picking and customer order shipping, inventory control and cycle counting expenses, and inventory shrinkage, damage and obsolescence.

Let’s take a close look at each of these components to better understand how they can be measured and managed.

Inventory Finance Charges – This may seem easy to calculate, but accurately measuring inventory finance charges is not as simple as it might appear at first glance. For some businesses, working capital financing may be essentially inventory financing and little else, but for many others it may also be accounts receivable financing. Floating between accounts payable and accounts receivable may also be partially financing inventory. For importers, this can be fairly straightforward to quantify if they are opening letters of credit before their suppliers ship from abroad. In this case, the cost of the LC installation can be easily identified as the inventory finance charges. Finally, it is essential to be able to measure how much of the inventory is financed externally and what part is financed through internal cash flow. For the part that is financed from cash flow, the opportunity costs of that investment should be measured.

Opportunity Costs – When you think about the opportunity cost associated with investing in inventory, it’s easy to focus strictly on the opportunity cost of dead or underperforming inventory. In fact, the opportunity cost is related to the value of the total inventory. If this value was not invested in inventory, what return could be expected if it were invested in something else, such as treasuries, mutual funds, or even a money market account?

Inventory Tax and Insurance – These items should be fairly straightforward to quantify as a percentage of the average inventory value. And because both insurance and taxes are highly variable with inventory value, any reduction in average inventory value will drive savings directly to the bottom line, not to mention improved cash flow.

Material Handling Expenses – Measuring material handling expenses that are not directly associated with picking and shipping customer orders can be just as tricky. These expenses are primarily made up of salaries and benefits, but also include material handling equipment depreciation or lease payments, automation, robotics, and systems depreciation, as well as miscellaneous expenses for supplies such as pallets, corrugated, UPC labeling materials, and the like. . .

Warehouse Overhead – The quickest way to measure this is to divide your total rent, utility, repair and maintenance, and property taxes by the percentage of the building associated with processing customer orders, pickup and shipping, and the associated part of the building. with receiving and storing inventory. While that part associated with receiving and warehousing may seem fixed, in fact it quickly becomes much more variable when you consider what you might be renting the space for as contract storage if your inventory weren’t there.

Inventory control and cycle counting – These expenses can also be comprised primarily of salaries and benefits, but can also include depreciation or expense on portable radio frequency (RF) units and other related equipment, as well as any miscellaneous expenses directly. related to your inventory control team.

Inventory reduction, damage, and obsolescence – Capturing and measuring these costs appears to be fairly straightforward at first glance. Loss, damage and obsolescence costs are the value of cancellations taken, or expressed in percentage terms, the value of those cancellations during a given period of time divided by the average inventory during that period. However, this assumes that all cancellations were made in a timely manner throughout the year. Were cycle counts performed on a regular basis? Was everything counted on a scheduled basis, was that schedule followed, and were higher speed items counted more frequently? Were they timely canceled? It was damaged and obsolete inventory was written off in the current period and allowed to accumulate during previous periods. Rather, cancellations were postponed during the current period, resulting in a build-up of damaged and obsolete inventory that will have to be canceled in a future period. Experience has taught us that, in some extreme cases, these cancellations are avoided for years!

To determine the cost of maintaining your inventory, these components are accumulated on an annualized basis and expressed as a percentage of your average annual inventory. Now you can see if the 25% annual maintenance cost estimate accurately reflects your business, or if your business has particular characteristics that result in a significantly different percentage.

Just as it is unwise to assume that your maintenance cost percentage will reflect a composite average across many companies, it is not appropriate to assume that all items in your inventory have the same maintenance cost percentage. Certainly, maintenance costs may differ within your company by distribution center (if you have more than one DC), product line, category, sub-category, or even item. Transportation costs may differ for high-volume, high-speed “A” items, slower-turn or add-on “B” items, or slow-turn “C” items. Large, bulky items can have a significantly different shipping cost than smaller items that take up much less space per dollar of inventory. Understanding the different transportation costs within your inventory helps you identify where the opportunities for the greatest savings might lie.

Once all inventory costs have been measured and quantified, those costs can be evaluated and managed. And what is immediately apparent is not just the cost of inventory that is essential to the business, but the cost of inventory that is nonessential, overstocked, dead, or deficient, and what financial drag this inventory is for the business. deal. business.

Reducing unnecessary inventory, whether by adjusting front-line stocks, essential inventory, or liquidating dead or underperforming inventory has the advantage of freeing up capital for other uses and reducing costs directly variable with inventory levels, and also helps you provides an opportunity to re-evaluate fixed and mixed costs to identify other potential cost savings. When you reduce inventory, you are not only freeing up invested capital, but you are also creating opportunities to reduce expenses, improve profitability, and actually increase cash flow.

Shopping Product Reviews

Free To Play: fashion or future?

There is only one move left, hastily skimming the field and I discover that there is no path to victory on the board; painfully, then, with a singular slide across the screen, I take the final step toward the inescapable loss of my final life. As the entrance is completed, the newly lined up trio of brightly colored candies explodes exuberantly against the backdrop of defeat as the stage does not clear, immediately a window opens on my phone screen. Chirply full of itself, the box informs me for a small price that I can buy a few more lives and try again; alternatively, I can spend 20 minutes sadly depressed while I wait for them to recover. If you haven’t guessed it yet, I’m of course referencing the free-to-play mobile phenomenon, inspired by Bejeweled, Candy Crush Saga.

Even a few years ago, the idea of ​​downloading a game like Candy Crush for free was practically unheard of. Today, a plethora of titles, notably massively multiplayer online games and those released on mobile platforms, are offered for free by choosing to sell optional extras to players later via micro transactions, a kind of extended demo, the so-called Freemium payment model. The increasing use of Freemium is largely due to the rise in popularity of social media like Facebook and the smartphone platforms where they thrive. Even monolithic publishers like EA have started experimenting with free-to-play mechanics by applying them to home console releases; Recent titles like Dead Space 3 and Mass Effect 3 have included optional micro-transactions. Despite its success, the movement has been the victim of harsh criticism from traditional players, the group that is least in favor of departing from traditional one-time payment models.

To understand the success of free models and their current upward trajectory, you must first realize that gamers; Therefore, the market is mainly divided into two very different audiences: the so-called nucleus and the informal. The core is traditional gamers, who often opt for dedicated gaming hardware like PCs and consoles as their preferred platforms; they rarely have more than a fleeting interest in MMOs or mobile devices. By regularly buying numerous games a year, from blockbusters to smaller indie titles, they are the market that publishers traditionally target. On the other hand, they are the casual ones, they are practically everyone else, the ones who don’t spend dozens of hours exploring Skyrim. They mainly play on devices they own for other purposes, such as smartphones, tablets, or Facebook. This audience rarely buys dedicated gaming machines unless they can offer something unique, like the Wii motion control, the PS2 DVD player, or the Xbox360 Kinect. The two groups are polarized on almost every front – including free play.

The rise in prominence of Free to Play is easily attributed to the growing number of casual gamers – the relationship is different. Years ago there was no casual audience, games were something only the core enthusiast did: Nobody’s mother bought an NES (* ahem * other than mine). The advent of the Internet and mobile phones changed that, games were suddenly accessible; anyone could reproduce them as a mere side effect of having another device. Even old Nokia phones, by today’s standards, predicted this eventuality, after all, who didn’t play snake? Later, Facebook began offering games, in unprecedented volumes, people who had never bought a console in their lives started playing Bejewed against their friends online. What did these games have in common? All were free as part of a device purchased for other reasons.

They were also free for an obvious reason, because they had to be. Think about it, imagine trying to sell the average person a £ 40 / $ 60 retail game in addition to a dedicated video game console – it’s hard to sell, but for mainstream gamers it’s fine. Now imagine that they have already bought a smartphone for another purpose, following the traditional model of selling them Candy Crush for £ 10 / $ 15 would still be very difficult. Perhaps you could get them to buy it if you use a Trojan horse, for example, like offering it for free. Trojan horse tactics are powerful tools, just look at Nintendo Wii. Initially, Nintendo targeted the kernel that showed off the system to their occasional family and friends, allowing them to test the Wii’s capabilities for free. Then if they wanted it, they could buy it, which they made in the millions. Nintendo did indeed make its way into casual life by selling you something you didn’t know you wanted until you played it. Sounds familiar? It should, free to play uses the same tactic, put it in your hands for free; they will pay later.

Sadly, the Wii was doomed to the life of a fad, despite its incredible hardware sales, software sales began to decline as disillusioned core gamers moved away from the system and casuals were unable to move a significant amount of software around its place. Another similar story and more relevant to free experiences today is that of the immensely popular Facebook game Farmville. Farmville, as you probably know, was a farming simulator. Players grew their crops and harvested them on a real-time clock. The game was 100% free to play, but non-paying players would begin to find themselves at a disadvantage as their cash-putting friends expanded much faster, exemplifying the troubling “pay-to-win” problem for which those who pay are tactically better results in free players being treated as second-class citizens. Over the course of a year, a large number of people paid for micro-transactions that generated billions for publisher Zynga, such as Wii, although the craze died out as quickly as it ignited and Farmville is largely forgotten.

Farmville pioneered the freemium model that is now widely used and, like all fads, raised a phenomenal amount of money during its brief time in the limelight. Now that everyone has a smartphone, iPad, tablet, Android, or Facebook account, getting an audience to choose a free game is easier than ever, and therefore the chances of being lucrative are increasing. Saying that free fashions only last a finite amount of time is something of a null argument anyway. Traditional full retail sets also have a shorter shelf life, so on average about 80% of a set’s sales are made in the first week. Both free to play and traditional single payment methods can only be maintained for a specified period of time; each works best in an audience.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where people need to be paid; games are not made of goodness in the hearts of the developers. It’s critical that they and their publishers recoup their investment and make a profit so that we can continue to produce the games we love. The decision to launch a title using a freemium model or including micro transactions is a business decision and when targeting a casual audience it is a good choice. If only one in ten players pays the bite-sized amounts for optional content, you’ll still make a profit thanks to the astronomical size of the market; in theory, that is very attractive. Everybody wins, right? Free games for players plus money for publishers. However, while it is entirely possible to complete a game like Candy Crush without spending a penny, it is incredibly difficult and time-consuming.

It is not a traditionally difficult mind, not rather free games tend to establish paywalls that players must pay to overcome. In the case of Candy Crush, it limits the number of lives players have, after a couple of failures, a relatively small period of time, they are presented with a choice: buy a few boosters or more lives for a small price or wait twenty minutes. for them to replenish themselves. To that end, the game sells time and convinces, but, logically, to sell convenience, you must first accept that inconvenience is a fundamental pillar of gameplay design. How can the player be saved time without losing it first? Gambling seems to actively get in your way, forcing you to crash and spend money. It is also not uneven in free games, as it costs more to buy all the content than to buy a one-time, comparative retail version.

For casual gamers who would never pay for a full game, that’s fine. For the core, although this is a bit concerning, generally clever and notoriously difficult to cheat, they click quickly and realize that the game is simply trying to make more money in small installments than it could in a large amount for advanced. At best that’s a deal breaker, as many major players in Plants Vs Zombies 2 feel, at worst it’s an insult. For the most part, the core would simply prefer to buy the game in advance without ever hitting paywalls or paying as you go, core games are a form of escapism; Who wants to escape to a world where they have to think about real life money?

Free to play is a deceptively deceptive beast; Although it can be done terribly, it can also be done positively in a way that the core can withstand. Planetside 2 is a great example of a massively multiplayer PC FPS that doesn’t put players at a disadvantage by playing for free by choosing to sell customization options. Sure, there are other options available, but none feel like they’re trying to steal money from you, instead they sell permanent content at a fair price. Valve’s Team Fortress 2 is another example of free play done right, once a full retail game is now free to play and players pay for customization options, nothing more.

I started this article by asking if it is free to play a fad or the future. The truth is that it is a combination of both. In the time editors have tampered with the model, it has become crystal clear that while it benefits the casual audience, it is less friendly to the smart core that is more than aware of its Trojan horse ways and actively opposes it. to the model. Regardless of core sentiments, free to play is a lucrative payment model that is inevitably part of the future; In fact, I bet it will become the main mechanism for making money on smartphones, tablets and social networks, home of the casual. in the very near future. Even with some good examples of free systems in the mainstream games, it seems like it will be a while before they become a force within the mainstream market, as long as it is necessary for the core to routinely get good deals. Ultimately, the core’s amazing ability to avoid being scammed means that they should not feel threatened by the success of Free to Play in the casual market that affects them. So is the future free to play? Casually, definitely. For the core? Expect to see traditional and free titles coexist in the future, but not today.

Sports

English Premier League – Silly Season

Deadline for player transfers in the English Premier League and that means only one thing: enter the silly season of the most famous league in all of world football.

As fans around the world endure three torturous summer months into the season finale, the only thing keeping them busy is the trickle of news about new signings and endless speculation about the signing of big stars by one team or another.

Would Brazilian sensation Ronaldinho join Manchester City’s wealthy megastars? Will Chelsea finally put Spanish forward Fernando Torres in their hands or will Liverpool keep their man? Amid the flurry of last-minute activity, the biggest news came from the most unlikely places.

However, this speculation generally comes to a head as the cutoff day approaches, which is August 31. This year was no different.

First, news of Robinho’s departure from Manchester City hit the airwaves. He went to AC Milan in a deal rumored to be worth around £ 22 million. A lot of money, but still below what Man City paid for it just two years ago! A simple statement on AC Milan’s official website said that “AC Milan announces that they have acquired Robinho on a permanent contract with Manchester City.” And that was it!

In a change of fortune, the former Santos player who had arrived in the Eastlands amid much fanfare and in quite dramatic fashion at the dawn of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan’s reign at Manchester City on the day of the deadline. Transfer two years ago also left on the day of the transfer deadline just this once, most fans were probably happy to see the back of the talented game creator who never seemed to settle down in Eastlands for some reason. We continue! And City have bought many other players to replace him. In fact, by some estimates, they have spent about half of the total amount spent during this particular transfer window.

One thing is certain. This Premier League season will be as exciting as any season in the last ten years. Let the games begin!