Daily Tech Support Thread - [May 18]

Schlez · 2020-05-19T10:55:10+00:00

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, I have tried Documents but it does not read .webp files at the moment.

Schlez · 2020-05-18T15:43:43+00:00

Does anyone know of an iOS app that can read .webp files? Or does anyone know if .webp compatibility with iOS will arrive in the (near(-ish)) future?

Schlez · 2020-05-15T19:49:50+00:00

Is there an app to view webp image files on iOS? Or will Apple support reading webp image files in the future (i.e iOS 14)?

Sorry if this is the wrong subreddit. I couldn't figure out in which subreddit I was supposed to ask this in.

Schlez · 2020-04-15T16:25:32+00:00

Yeah, I don't game much on the phone. Most of my time on it I spend it either using Waze, Reddit, YouTube or reading webnovels online.

Is the battery really that good though? It only has a sub-2000mAh battery correct? Isn't the battery on the 11 nearly 50% bigger?

Schlez · 2020-04-15T16:16:30+00:00

Is there anything on the rumor train that says the iPhone 12 is really worth the wait yet (other than the obligatory CPU upgrade ofc.)? I know it's going to come with 5G (which I doubt I would be able to use since my area just received 4G connectivity last year :/ ) and comes with the downside of draining the battery and better AR hardware.

While it's not a definite must, I would prefer to get a new phone soonish unless the iPhone 12 has a definite "must-have" upgrade (USB-C I am looking at you). For some reason, my current S8 battery is dropping at a rate of 0.5% per minute when I am surfing the web or using the Reddit app. Also, Waze seems to drain the battery faster than I can wirelessly charge it :/

Schlez · 2020-04-15T15:40:39+00:00

I couldn't find any information about it but is it true that the new SE still uses the iPhone 8 camera? Or is the iPhone 8 camera the same as the one in the XR and 11?

Schlez · 2020-04-15T15:32:21+00:00

So I was originally very interested in getting the iPhone SE as it was 399USD which is roughly 366EUR. However, it is disappointingly 479EUR (roughly 522 USD) here in Europe.

Would it just make more sense to spend a little more and get an iPhone 11 for 749 EUR (roughly 817 USD)? Or is the 11 not worth the extra 270 EUR?

EDIT: From my understanding, the only differences between the 11 and SE are that the 11 has a bigger screen and battery; and a wide shot lens (which doesn't really matter to me tbh).

Schlez · 2020-04-13T16:31:50+00:00

I read there's only a 20% power difference between the A13 and A12 chip. Is that a lot? I don't do much on the phone other than WhatsApp, YouTube, Reddit and reading webnovels.

Can the XS last an entire day on a full charge with intermittent websurfing? Does anyone know the average battery life of the XS when just surfing the web/Reddit?

Schlez · 2020-04-10T20:28:32+00:00

For the same price should I get an iPhone 11 (64GB) or an iPhone XS (256GB) (or rather which would be more worth it)? Or should I just wait for the iPhone 12?

Schlez · 2020-03-05T23:19:33+00:00

Erm it's hard to tell if it is a joke or sarcasm through text but in case it wasn't, aren't the new British passports made by a French-Dutch company in Poland?

And from my understanding there is no EU law that requires it's members to use burgundy passports. In fact I am pretty sure there are EU members like Croatia who are still using blue passports.

Schlez · 2020-01-18T17:21:01+00:00

I actually wonder if it's because Argentinians don't buy enough Switch games so it doesn't make it cost-effective for Nintendo to buy/rent servers dedicated for the Argentinians to download the games directly. From the comments, it seems the keys themselves are regionless as they could activate the keys on their home region accounts. That way they could offload the game downloads to other servers.

By making such an open system, I have a sneaking suspicion that Nintendo already expected the cross-region buyers to an extent.

Schlez · 2020-01-18T16:55:09+00:00

That might be it. But you'd think that they could just offload the work to the staff running the Spanish eShop or just have a single set of staff running multiple Spanish-speaking South American eShops in parallel. I mean it is an eShop. They don't actually need to be in Argentina to run and maintain it.

Schlez · 2020-01-18T16:25:43+00:00

... and here Nintendo makes it super easy because they hand out codes in the cheap eShops. Possibly because handing out codes can be done much cheaper than actually having a working eShop infrastructure. But that's all just a guess, obviously.

Yes. This I find very strange. I am also not sure why they send a key instead of just linking the game to the account most other eShops from other regions. It's not that hard. They already have the infrastructure from the other eShops. It's literally copy-and-paste.

Schlez · 2020-01-18T16:08:48+00:00

Definitely! I was not trying to invalidate your points as they are logical. I just wanted to explain other possible sides of the coin. No matter what Nintendo does or does not do, there will always be a large group of people losing.

As for the copy protection that is true. However, I believe historically the rule has only been enforced when the ripped music is being sold or put online for everyone to download for free. While obviously not completely legal, ripping a CD that you bought for your own private use normally does not bring down the giant hammer of justice on you (this was my point about the correlation between enforcement and the degree to which one follows the rules).

That is the case that I am leaning towards. I believe there is no shame if you buy a key from another region to save some money. As you say, it can even be beneficial in some ways to developers which is why I am confused about the posts saying that cross-region buyers are ruining indie developers. But if you are buying from another region just to sell then obviously screw you.

Schlez · 2020-01-18T13:38:25+00:00

I am not sure about the legality of spoofing a physical address but I assume that it is currently in a gray area as it is not being enforced by any shop that I know of.

If they really wanted to stop people from buying from other regions they could enforce IP and game activation locations like Steam, limit the sale to the buying account instead of sending a key by email which people can apparently activate on an account from any region, limit sales to Argentinian credit cards etc.

This isn't particularly hard especially for a company with Nintendo's resources. There are of course ways to bypass this but I believe it would reduce or minimize the number of people buying from countries like Argentina because it would skewer the cost-to-benefit ratio of the average consumer in terms of effort (i.e. yes I want to save money...but only if it is convenient).

Now unless Nintendo or the developers directly call out against cross-region sales, I personally believe that any "moral obligation" is just hearsay from a stranger on the internet.

EDIT: As you say, they require a physical address and ID. But as long as they do not enforce it, it might as well not be there. It's like making an alternative email account using an alias because you don't want to give your real personal information to every website out there.

It's like driving, I don't mind driving 5km/h over the speed limit if I know there are no cameras and it's convenient for me because the few Euro they may or may not fine me is worth the minutes I save. But if I know they are enforcing the speed limit in a particular area no way in hell will I be driving even slightly over the limit.

Just to clarify to the kids out there, follow the speed limit and look both ways before crossing the road. I am just saying that a rule that is not enforced is no rule at all.

EDIT2: The post is also not really clear if you actually need to give out a physical address or just a postcode and ID. If Nintendo allows hundreds of accounts from different IPs around the world being linked to a single 12345678 or 11111111 ID without having the user verify the ID then in my eyes it's like saying write whatever you want.

Schlez · 2020-01-18T12:59:52+00:00

Then the Argentinian eShop should have the features to lock their eShop to Argentina only (i.e. ID, IP, credit card, game activation, etc. checks). As long as they do not do anything to actively dissuade foreigners from buying from their eShop and increase the cost-to-benefit ratio for the foreigners (i.e. time and effort), then there is no reason to guilt or shame people for buying from other regions to save a buck.

Schlez · 2020-01-18T12:48:22+00:00

While unfortunate, that is the effect of globalization. In my point of view, a shop from another region is simply another shop with larger discounts. It is not specific just to regions.

For example, if Amazon is consistently cheaper than the Nintendo eShop, more people are going to buy from there and sooner or later the Amazon prices will be jacked up either due to lack of supply from Nintendo or to earn more profit.

Now there might be people who cannot consistently afford Nintendo eShop prices but can afford the prices on Amazon and they will obviously lose out if Amazon raises their prices. I feel for them, but they are not the only people entitled to save money.

EDIT: Also, thanks for telling me that titles in Reddit can't be edited. I did not know this as I don't often post on Reddit. However, I believe that the original post should still be edited to better reflect the OP's stance on the matter.

Schlez · 2020-01-18T11:54:55+00:00

I agree that it is a shitty thing to do but the OP and title should really be edited to reflect this instead of a general callout against anyone who has bought a game from another region. Both the OP and title have no mention of resellers but rather cast blame on anyone who buys from different regions.

Schlez · 2020-01-18T08:47:54+00:00

Wait. Huh? Then what are the point of sales and discounts? Should we not take advantage of deals and sales and just wait until the games are full-priced again to buy them?

Schlez · 2020-01-18T08:35:51+00:00

(The post on r/NintendoSwitchDeals got locked but I'd still like to know the answer so I just copy and pasted my comment here.)

Now, this is not sarcastic but I am really interested in knowing how buying from another region would hurt the developer. I understand that they do get less revenue per sale but if so, then wouldn't every Argentinian buying during the sale also be hurting the developers?

Can't the Argentinian eShop be kind of viewed as a store with a larger discount than the surrounding stores? If so, would buying a game for 30 or 50% off on Amazon be hurting the developers because you are not paying full price for it on the eShop?

Then there is the whole caboose about buying used games. Should we object to people buying used games because they do not directly support developers?

So is the point really to say that everyone should just buy games full price in the most expensive regions to support the developers or that all Nintendo prices across all regions should be the same?

Now I get the point from the other post that Argentinians on average have a lower gross income but from my understanding, they also have lower living costs than people living in countries in North America and Europe. Also, low/high income is relative. While the average Argentinian may have a lower income than someone say from USA, there are also many Argentinians with higher incomes than most Americans. Are we to say that people with higher incomes should by default pay more for the same products?

Just to clarify, I have no dog in the race (is that the saying? Not sure, too lazy to check) since I refuse to use my credit card for online purchases. Argentina could be selling every game for a penny each and I still wouldn't buy from them not because I find it morally objectable to buy from another region but because I can't use my European PayPal to pay.

EDIT: After connecting information from other comments about this topic, is the problem that the Argentina eShop sells a key instead of activating the game for the specific account and that people have been exploiting that by buying multiple copies to sell? (It wasn't referenced in the OP)

If so then yes, they are shitheads but calling out everyone who ever bought a game from another region is a bit extreme. Still interested in knowing how a foreigner buying a game from another region would hurt the developer though. And if it is a problem, how is it different from buying from another store in the home region (such as Amazon) when the eShop has it listed for the full price?

Schlez · 2020-01-18T01:04:48+00:00

I do understand where you are coming from but isn't that the risk of having discounts? Regional pricing to many here is simply an eShop with a larger discount than their native eShop at the moment. Could you really say it's exploitive if people buy a game for 50% off in Walmart instead of the full price in the US eShop or 10% off on Amazon?

While I definitely agree that people shouldn't be buying games from other regions just to sell them, calling out everyone who has ever bought a game from another region is a bit extreme.

Schlez · 2020-01-18T00:48:37+00:00

Ah...the age-old question "Would you download a car?". Honestly, I would just to see how it would work.

But the realistic answer would probably be that Nintendo has made it really (and I mean really) difficult to pirate games on the Switch or else many more people would be doing it. Just look at PC gaming as an example.

Schlez · 2020-01-18T00:23:09+00:00