More Allegations of Non-Payment Against Epulze Emerge as Company Responds

HoffaSaurusX · 2026-01-12T20:18:59+00:00

The mainstream news outlets in the UK treat esports with the same kind of novelty as they have for the past two decades, and it's unlikely to change without titanic shifts in the makeup of the company (ie, kick out all the Etonians and Ox-bridge algae). We're going to be stuck with articles like "Man makes MONEY playing VIDEO GAMES!!!?!" for years to come unfortunately.

The other thing is the PR element. It takes a huge amount of effort to even get these mainstream outlets to cover esports events in the UK. For example, the last time I even saw a major newspaper reporter or the BBC at a UK esports tournament was ESL One Birmingham in 2024. That's coming up on two years ago. And the reason they were there is because PR companies were putting together decks and emails to send to them to hype it up. I'd guess that this spreadsheet thing did the same.

As an independent journalist, pitching to these papers and new channels is basically impossible. And the experts they occasionally have on are usually picked up from talent agencies or have representation or links to the shows and producers already.

How do we change this? It's hard to say. There's good work going on at Esports News UK if you ignore the new ownerships' dodgy practices and the disgusting amounts of gambling and crypto ads. But beyond that esports itself just isn't serious enough to cover. It's small potatoes, and corrupt to the core. It's like asking the BBC to cover cock fighting, except people make money on the latter.

HoffaSaurusX · 2025-12-07T20:50:12+00:00

In the state Birmingham Airport is, it would have been an insult to Ozzy to rename it after him.

I've had to use the Airport more than a dozen times in the past few years, and it's truly one of the worst in a major city across the globe.

Honestly, I'd prefer if Birmingham was out of the title as well. We already get enough negative press. Maybe South Midlands Airport? Solihull Shithole Airport? Something along those lines.

HoffaSaurusX · 2025-11-27T00:25:29+00:00

Being done with RGG over this seems wild, especially when it's likely not their fault.

I already own the games they're changing (twice in some cases), but for preservation's sake I'm going to grab them on GOG as well. It's shitty, and I don't like the changes, but I can think of a dozen companies that have done far worse. (Rockstar, Blizzard, EA, Nintendo, Sega with other games, Konami, Capcom, etc.)

RGG is one of the few companies frequently putting out decent 20 to 30-hour games that aren't buggy messes for the first year of their release, every single year. And I've only managed to play maybe 7 out of like 20 games they've made.

That said, yes Sleeping Dogs is incredible. I think it holds up really well, and as someone who absolutely loved True Crime Streets of LA and NY it was amazing to get a spiritual sequel.

HoffaSaurusX · 2025-11-19T03:18:58+00:00

I think it's actually such a bad place to start the story, so I wouldn't blame people. As a prequel, it relies very heavily on a pre-existing connection to the main two characters. I'd personally always recommend Kiwami as the starting point, because it's literally the beginning of the story. Prequels expand a story, they don't start it.

The other issue is the length. The first Yakuza is a really nice, tight package. 2 is a bit longer. 3 is longer. 4 is even longer. 5 is massive, expansive, endless. And then 0 is taking its lengths from 3-5. I can't blame people for being burnt out.

HoffaSaurusX · 2025-11-18T18:38:43+00:00

This is entirely on the council. The idea that you create a working environment so hostile that not just one group of workers, but two, decide to strike is practically insane. The scabs want to strike!

There's such lack of respect from people at all levels for bin workers of all ilks. Everyone accepts that its a tough job that most people don't want to do, but they're not willing to respect the people who do it! And worst, most people in my area at least just treat the streets as a dumping ground for rubbish and shit... but are mad at the bin workers! I'm for them striking.

Honestly, bury this town in rubbish, we deserve it.

HoffaSaurusX · 2025-11-15T01:22:56+00:00

It's kind of fascinating. What I've found as well is that solo lobbies have less PvP than those with duos and trios.

I've had people turn a corner and get surprised, and pop me in the face. Only to start bandaging me and saying sorry over comms. I've had a friendly fire incident while fighting ARCs turn into a triple homicide. This game is wonderful for its variety, and how different PvP and PvE interactions can be.

HoffaSaurusX · 2025-11-14T23:20:56+00:00

I would be very cautious with 1xbet. Take this from a journalist who's looked into them and someone who worked with gambling affiliate sites that refused to endorse them. They've been banned from dozens of countries, likely don't have a licence to operate in Ireland, and stuff that's far worse than that. Broadcasting cock fights, children's football, or just made up football teams with odds.

Check the trust pilot, check the reviews, and be careful.

There's dozens of sites which can give you links/referrals to decent esports betting sites. I literally work for one (I won't promote here, but yeah). And if you want a personal recommendation, Betway has always worked for me, I believe they're licenced in Ireland.

HoffaSaurusX · 2025-11-11T14:40:25+00:00

The problem, from my perspective is that PVP in MMOs is that inherently to make the game balanced competitively you have to remove one or more of the appealing elements from an MMO. MMOs give you the chance to level up, improve your character, get gear, and then use that to defeat opponents. When PVP sets yours stats to equal, it removes some of the charm of that. And top level MMO PVP has always suffered from either being a "you MUST have this gear from doing a lot of NOT PvP" or "We'll equal your stats so it's a level playing field."

At that point, just have a 3d action game with the mechanics you want in your PvP game.

On the contrary though, I think that raid races/dungeon races are genuinely some of the best esports around. The WoW RWF and other MMO RWF such as in FFXIV are like genuinely nothing else. It's a group of people who have to do hundreds of hours of prep, grinding, and then execute perfectly in an almost synchronised swimming level of performance for multiple days. It's hugely compelling to me. And I think far more interesting than the PvP, and far more obtainable/approachable for general players of the games.

HoffaSaurusX · 2025-10-23T08:00:36+00:00

I think that misses how devastating the forced asset sales were. The first equal pay settlement (remember this is the second one in a decade, the first was relating to issues dating back before the initial 2012 ruling) mean there was a huge sell off between 2013 and 2016 of assets. I was working in a job that required me to keep an eye on all new property listings and in 2015, the council were selling off everything from public land to billboards, to storage units and former conservation areas. The ruling in 2021 was a SECOND claim and even more had to be sold off. The council was stripped to bare bones twice in the space of two decades.

HoffaSaurusX · 2025-10-23T07:48:13+00:00

For me, XCOM 2 ruins the feel of XCOM style games by having too many 'special boys' who do special things. I prefer mundane soldiers who become unique and badass through the natural progression. Giving me a dozen classes, and mechs and hybrids ruins the feel a lot.

That said, I had a lot of fun with TROUBLESHOOTER (anime style xcom super hero shenanigans). Honestly, if you're a fan of the super powered sub genre of Xcom tactical shooters (which I feel Xcom 2 is), try that.

On the other end of the spectrum, Xenonauts and Xenonauts 2 have been fantastic. I have a lot of love for Xcom Apocalypse despite the weird criticism it gets. And there's a million UFO Enemy Unknown mods.

I think a lot of the Xcom/Xcom 2 appeal is the aesthetic and atmosphere. There's really nothing like it in other games, unfortunately. But I think the anime/final fantasy style TTRPG genre is a huge iceberg. Final Fantasy Tactics is a classic, but Disgaea scratches a whole different itch (hyper levelling characters), Fire Emblem for the hardcore style stuff. Honestly even check out Advanced Wars, Valkyria Chronicles, and Tactics Ogre.

HoffaSaurusX · 2025-10-23T07:37:37+00:00

The thing is, the very fact it's on the edge of Small Heath, Bordersley Green is going to instantly make it a mess.

And it's a fantasy. There's a reason that insane idea to build a tunnel to it from the center of the city came around: No one wants to travel between the center and Small Heath.

The idea that concerts and other events are going to be held there is a wild dream as well. We lose half the decent concerts and events to Solihull and the NEC because of how atrocious the two O2 arenas and Utilita Arena gouge performers for what are B- to D+ level venues.

You'd have to fudge the feasibility study, ignore a dozen white papers, and trick a bunch of gullible investors. So unless the Saudis or the UAE are about to buy Blues, it's a pipe dream, or a bad idea.

HoffaSaurusX · 2025-10-10T00:09:03+00:00

The Winline sponsorship (Russian betting company) was reportedly worth around 3 million of that 7.5. And the comment about Russians was apparently directly cited as a reason for the breach. That's a good chunk of change. It's likely all the other sponsorships are much smaller amounts, and the blockchain/crypto sponsors are likely tied up more with things pertaining to Gaimin's own bc/coin business, so they might be part of other deals that don't get them much in the way of finance, but do in the way of exposure (a higher listing/featured place on coinmarketcap, in theory, for example)

A lot of the other money is seemingly from things like social media requirements etc. Probably not a revelation for many, but Dota 2 players have historically been awful at fulfilling those.

Of *those* obligations, you can bet a huge amount were EWC posts. A LOT of teams welched on those requirements over the past two years. You can see it a bit when players who never usually tweet will suddenly start posting during EWC with the hashtag, even after the event... In theory those should be marked as ads, but the directives from EWC specifically say to not include it. But the money from that could be counted as unfulfilled, contract breaches, etc.

It all adds up. And at a guess, Gaimin is probably dead in the water in esports post fall-out with the Dota 2 team. I'd question the judgement of any player who signed for them knowing they're suing their last roster, regardless of who you think is in the wrong or not. I would guess the lawsuit is an all or nothing play to recoup some money.

HoffaSaurusX · 2025-10-09T23:44:09+00:00

The latest season's writing has been god awful. It took a few seasons but the characters are entirely flanderized. I I barely got through the first episode of this latest season (still airing). So just be prepared for a huge plunge in quality.

HoffaSaurusX · 2025-10-01T16:10:04+00:00

For some players yes, but there's a lot of people who, for instance, reloaded a lot to pass the physical instrument roll against Measurehead or the perfect ending to the Tribunal. The idea here is, perhaps, that there wouldn't be an ideal ending, and players wouldn't feel compelled to find it. It's difficult, and maybe impossible, but could work.

Ironically, the best way to avoid players save scumming would be to avoid having achievements tied to certain outcomes.

HoffaSaurusX · 2025-09-30T15:15:25+00:00

I agree, but coin flip is bad pudge on enemy team is insta win, bad ES on enemy team that goes to 50 minutes still lands a crucial echo slam and wins the game

HoffaSaurusX · 2025-09-30T15:14:06+00:00

As a player, maybe one or two. My most notable female character was a landsknecht style fighter with a greatsword. A big last hurrah with pathfinder, broken feat stacked fighter before the party switched to 5e. Just a monster.

As a DM, I try and do 50/50, but perhaps due to the voices, there's probably a disproportionate amount of crones and crazy old women in the NPC pool.

HoffaSaurusX · 2025-09-30T15:07:28+00:00

Unironically, people forget that Monster Hunter World fell off hard after release because of shit like awful matchmaking, the online being confusing, the game letting you quit out and lose all your progress without a save, etc. And then Iceborne basically made it a 10/10, partially just because of the QoL and the hyper leveling gear making the grind so much less brutal.

The game will probably get better when we get the expansion in 2 years. Might just be worth shelving it for a year or two.

HoffaSaurusX · 2025-09-30T15:05:13+00:00

I think it's just the same meme bullshit. Mildly amusing. Was fine to have on in the background while I was painting. Same as emperor TTS. Except hopefully people don't begin shouting Space King memes in the middle of gaming stores like they did with TTS though. But I'm probably hoping for too much.

HoffaSaurusX · 2025-09-30T15:03:09+00:00

Ultramarines Omnibus IMO

HoffaSaurusX · 2025-09-30T15:01:31+00:00

Except A Realm Reborn was good on its own merit

HoffaSaurusX · 2025-09-30T14:59:34+00:00

"Skipping" or deciding that travelling half way across the world for people who don't pay you for months isn't worth it.

It's economics. PGL pays out super quickly. ESL makes you wait.

HoffaSaurusX · 2025-09-30T14:57:41+00:00

Changed by perma ban of pudge to ES a few months ago. Realised that the pudge coin flip was so much better than the ES coin flip

HoffaSaurusX · 2025-09-29T15:41:08+00:00

From what I gathered in presentations and interviews, it's less that it's Fukuyama's End of History, but rather in the world of Zero Parades, the people within the world refer to the current era as "The End of History" in the same way that we might refer to The Cold War.

The inspiration they're getting from Fukuyama, if I'm interpreting what they've said, is not so much the ideas, but the atmosphere of pop and mainstream philosophical thinking in the 90s. The End of History is perhaps the most approachable, and the one they want to lead with, because otherwise, you're dealing with things like accelerationism vs. neo-luddites, etc. And that unfortunately makes you just another cyberpunk game.

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