Question Corvid-19 and gaming, how are you affected?

[MaddMann]

Well, let's talk about the elephant in the world right now. Corvid-19. None of us have had to deal with something on the scale of the corvid outbreak, so we are seeing changes that we have never had to deal with before, from quarantine to panicked buyers, things have changed. So, lets look at how it has affected gaming. While I hate the affects this outbreak has caused, it is also rather fascinating to look at all the little facets of life that are affected. For example, I work at Amazon. We have eliminated non essential travel, we now have designated areas at our office that we are required to stay in (to prevent transmission as much as possible) and we are low on supplies that we normally are abundant with (like new laptop, fiber optic cables, assemblies, basically anything made in china). Gaming wise, it has delayed some major game events, and I have no doubts it will also cause some delays. On the up side, I have had more time to game because I don't leave my home much (not that I really did much before to be honest).

I also live near Portland, but I am avoiding it like (please forgive the analogy) the plague. However, I usually enjoy going there because there is a Fry's electronics. There are lots of video game cafes, however many of them are closed, including the VR lounges. How those folks are going to survive this? I have no idea. Personally I think a lot of this is overkill, but I understand the fears at the same time.

So how has corvid-19 effected you? What changes do you see it causing in the gaming industry? What are your thoughts on the actions being taken?

 

[SWard]

I'm giving a talk on community development for games at Develop this year and think it will get cancelled. Most games companies are self isolating people, and a lot of our big shows GDC etc are being cancelled. For a lot of devs they rely on demos and guest streaming at large events for exposure so I think its going to effect marketing structures and reveals a lot this year. Also considering how VR demos work, I'd imagine no one will want to use a demo kit at all this year...

It's also going to be rough on side industries and influencers whose primary gigs are events based (cosplayers, esports events) and I'd imagine travel for any big competitions, demos or reveals will all be canned.

Mainly, I don't mind all of that, just want to make sure everyones mental health stays good, that people don't feel too isolated and that they can get the money back they may have already spent on events, it's generally the indie devs who suffer more on that one... as they tend to self-fund out of own pockets stuff like e3 flights and hotels, booth space - some of which I'm sure is non refundable...

 

[MaddMann]

Yeah, the financial impact is going to be huge for all those who rely on face to face contact to spread news of their projects. Online advertising is very dense, hopefully they can find at least some space on places like imgur and reddit to advertise their projects more. Maybe we as a community can help them a bit by making Indie game showcases, let them show off their wares in a fully virtual games conference.

 

[Frindis]

I follow how the media/government is communicating this issue with a lot of interest. For me personally it has made me a bit more aware of avoiding too many public places, as a way to fend of growth and taking care of the people who are more subjected to getting ill. Being calm and collected is extremely important, to prevent hoarding and further unnecessary escalations.

Gaming wise prices seem to be roughly the same (at least where I live), but I reckon it will slowly rise in the near future. A lot more digital now when speaking of conferences and similar, which I try to look at in a positive way, like how it is better for the environment. That is, of course, my side as a viewer and I can see how it would be different for people participating in them.

All in all, looking out for each other is the best remedy for any nastiness coming our way

 

[MaddMann]

Yeah, I just saw they cancelled E3!! Yet another blow to all those dev's But I can certainly understand seeing as how many of them normally fly here from other countries and nobody wants a giant room full of thousands of people from all over the world right now.

E3 2020 Cancelled

The biggest trade show in video games is skipping a year. E3 2020, which was planned to take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center this June, is cancelled as a result of the Covid-19 coronavirus that is currently spreading across the globe, the organizers of the conference said today.

kotaku.com

 

[Zloth]

Lots of nothing here in Kansas City. I was even able to buy toilet paper yesterday, though the choices were a bit sparse. There's only been one documented case around here and that was from somebody who was returning from New England. Whether we HAVE many more here, we don't know - barely any testing is available.

Game-wise, no effect at all. E3 has been getting more and more sparse every year so I don't think I'll really miss it. Competitive gaming isn't my thing, so no worries there.

Making games strikes me as a really great telecommuting industry.

 

[Zoid]

The COVID-19 impact on my day-to-day has gone from nil to significant in just a few days with state governors declaring official states of emergency and major organizations following suit. I live in a city with a major university and a large international population. Extra precautions are being taken within the student population since tens of thousands of them travel for spring break, which started just before the virus was elevated to global pandemic status.

I haven't had trouble buying soap or toilet paper so far, but we did make the decision to cancel a concert that we were supposed to perform this weekend, and at work we're talking about how to support everybody that will soon be working from home.

If I end up working from home as well then that will impact my gaming life in a positive way. Shhhh just don't tell anyone that I'll have Factorio open next to my email.

 

[MaddMann]

The COVID-19 impact on my day-to-day has gone from nil to significant in just a few days with state governors declaring official states of emergency and major organizations following suit. I live in a city with a major university and a large international population. Extra precautions are being taken within the student population since tens of thousands of them travel for spring break, which started just before the virus was elevated to global pandemic status.

I haven't had trouble buying soap or toilet paper so far, but we did make the decision to cancel a concert that we were supposed to perform this weekend, and at work we're talking about how to support everybody that will soon be working from home.

If I end up working from home as well then that will impact my gaming life in a positive way. Shhhh just don't tell anyone that I'll have Factorio open next to my email.

Lol, I have been playing factorio since about 4am today doing remote support for work.

 

[Sarafan]

The Covid-19 is affecting multiple spheres of our lives. This includes gaming. E3 is cancelled and I think it's a good idea. If there's something that can be done to reduce the spread of the virus, it should be done. Cancellation of major events is one of these things. The virus didn't affect me in any significant way as for now, but I'm a little worried when I read how the situation develops in different countries.

 

[McStabStab]

My wife and I both work in the events industry and things are changing big time. Fortunately for us we're high enough in our respective businesses that we should be ok barring total economic collapse, but I can't say the same for many colleagues and friends. Freelancers I hire often now have no work on their calendars for coming months.

A large quantity (at least in the US) of people work in the service industries as well as tourism and hospitality management. If this continues for more than a month (which it will), we will see the unemployment rate rise substantially as businesses won't have the work to keep their workforce. People won't be able to pay their rents, in turn people won't be able to pay their mortgages, and soon we have 2008 all over again.

The economy was already a house of cards after 2008 and COVID-19 gave it a nudge. Be prepared for an interesting 2020.

I apologize if this comes off as alarmism. I want this to blow over just as much as anyone but at this point another recession is just as scary as the virus itself.

 

[Zloth]

Well, it changed fast here. While I was writing my post above, our CEO was writing an email telling everyone who can to work from home for the next 3 weeks. (Yeah, probably more like 3 months, and maybe a lot longer if we have to wait for a vaccine.)

There's going to be a lot of winners and losers over this. I'm guessing gaming is going to be a big winner with so many other forms of entertainment getting shut down.

 

[McStabStab]

My wife's business shut down entirely, all staff released, so I guess I was wrong before. Not sure my son's daycare will be able to survive not getting tuition from families once they have to shut down. My state is shutting down all restaurants and bars which will add to the list. Unemployment will likely go over 10% this week.

Good luck and stay safe out there folks.

 

[MaddMann]

My wife's business shut down entirely, all staff released, so I guess I was wrong before. Not sure my son's daycare will be able to survive not getting tuition from families once they have to shut down. My state is shutting down all restaurants and bars which will add to the list. Unemployment will likely go over 10% this week.

Good luck and stay safe out there folks.

That's terrible! Really seems like we are doing far more damage to ourselves than this virus would

 

[Johnway]

So far its affected me very little in the UK. We haven't been advised to work from home as mandatory but the option is there should we want it. All business travel that requires flights or overnight accommodation in a hotel has been suspended in my company.

Gaming wise, its business as usual. Play my main game, play Path of exile and/or Doom 2 during the week day.

 

[Frindis]

Hearing how this virus has affected this community, I hope we all manage to keep both calm and support each other as much as possible. If you know of someone in quarantine, maybe go buy some nice food and help said person out. I wish you all the very best and I hope you all get through this!

 

[Zoid]

Hearing how this virus has affected this community, I hope we all manage to keep both calm and support each other as much as possible. If you know of someone in quarantine, maybe go buy some nice food and help said person out. I wish you all the very best and I hope you all get through this!

Absolutely! Reaching out to people is definitely important as people are required to isolate themselves more and more. It's important that we only isolate ourselves physically, not mentally!

That's why communities like this and all gaming communities will be so valuable during this time. They allow us to hang out, chat, compete, and cooperate with friends and strangers from around the world as much as we like without putting anyone at risk.

We should all be making an extra effort to reach out to both the people in our phone contacts and the people on our gaming friend lists.

 

[Johnway]

Well... Spoke too soon. just got word today that our office is closed indefinitely and we're all working from home. The good news is that virtually everyone has a laptops and we can use VPNs. We'll see what happens tomorrow though...

 

[McStabStab]

Well... Spoke too soon. just got word today that our office is closed indefinitely and we're all working from home. The good news is that virtually everyone has a laptops and we can use VPNs. We'll see what happens tomorrow though...

That's good, at least you're still working and getting paid!

 

[Johnway]

That's good, at least you're still working and getting paid!

Strangely i still prefer going into the office to work. Working in IT, i very much prefer to visit people who need help, have the resources in hand and generally seeing things for myself. Remote working isn't my cup of tea, my limited access to peoples machines and resources seriously impacts supporting them. plus too many distractions at home to focus on my work.

i did ask if working from home was mandatory. My (light-hearted) argument was that everyone was going to be working from home and the office was going to be empty, it would be safe.

EDIT: is anyone's hands getting dry from all the hand waashing? The back of my hand is getting dry, increasingly red rash like and there are minor cuts.

 

[huynhpro]

Italians play Fortnite game to avoid the covid 19...
see more

 

[MaddMann]

EDIT: is anyone's hands getting dry from all the hand waashing? The back of my hand is getting dry, increasingly red rash like and there are minor cuts.

Might try a different soap? I have issues with any soap that has lavender in it.

 

[McStabStab]

Might try a different soap? I have issues with any soap that has lavender in it.

I just have begun using lotion on the backs of my hands on the knuckles. That's where it's the worst. Helps a lot.