The Business: Yet More Independent Confirmation About SOBS' Big Move

More people picking up what I've been putting down.

"How can SOBS afford to keep things going?"

Bots. Lots and lots of bots. Bots writing manuscripts, replacing designers and technical writers. Bots making art, replacing artists and art directors. Bots running NPCs, both bot-run friendlies and bot-run OPFOR, replacing both Referees and other players as required to play at all.

Does it need to be better than the best that Man can do? No. It just needs to be cheaper, easier, faster, and more convenient for the end-user than the end-users doing it themselves or giving money to third parties to do it for them.

Now couple this with the Walled Garden and the open-for-non-Current-Edition-use VTT and you have something that every other commercial operation cannot compete with. This is why I keep saying that Conventional Play is going to collapse because SOBS' C-Suite is hard-pivoting to the Revealed Preferences of non-hobbyists because doing so makes Line Go Up far faster than not doing so ever would. SOBS wants Gacha Money, and this is how they are going to get it.

It. Will. Work.

Once this is live and successful, SOBS will redefine what "RPG" means to that majority population so that Your Favorite Game is no longer acceptable in the eyes of those same people. The hobby you know is going to become an occult practice. Most of you have no idea how to handle this, as you're still thinking that you're going to maintain any degree of popular acceptance or tolerance once this new paradigm takes hold, and when the local retail outlets either change what they sell or shut down due to the collapse you are going to be all Surprised Pikachu.

Unless you already see what's coming and made your peace with it. Then you're in the Clubhouse, and the opinions of such people no longer matter.

SOBS's Big Move will suck all the oxygen out of the room. If you haven't returned to the Clubhouse by then, you're going to see your participation get choked off because you will not able to able to people or places to play (or products to buy new) within a decade or less.

You should be paying attention to this stuff. If you don't, and you get caught out, that is on you. I can only sound the alarm for so long before the colony drop hits.