This reminds me of the case study about Target sending ads to people their data analytics model identified as likely being pregnant. The father of a teenager was so angry they send her the ad he raised hell at a local store. Thing is, they were right.
Yes. Vertical integration means a lot more than what you described. In a nutshell it can be described as "A big upfront cost that is cheaper in the long run." The basic example would go something like this: you make beef jerky. You buy the beef, you rent a kitchen, make the jerky, pay a company for packaging, pay a company to ship it to stores, etc. Then you save up and buy a facility to make the jerky. Then you save up and buy a packaging machine. Then you save up and buy some shipping trucks. Then you save up and buy a farm to raise cattle, etc. That's vertical integration.
My wife said I was a nerd for taking one look at that picture and immediately telling her what episode it was. And I'm not saying she's wrong, but I do wish there was a way to monetize that skill.
Then I have just the thing for you, it's called Project 1999, it's a snapshot of EQ up to the Velious expansion. It takes a bit of work to get installed but between that and many, many variation servers they are the perfect thing to fulfill that throwback MMO itch.
Oh snap I commented on that post! Literally every comment on it has been people pointing that out, I had a whole conversation with the OP being annoyed that people are focusing on that instead of the article itself (which IS fair from OPs side and understandably annoying), but that just highlights how stupid it is for a mod to ban you for it. Also shows arbitrary moderation that no one else got banned, dude had it in for you, definitely a PTB.
Oh agreed 100%, people tend to speak up more about a perceived error than the rest of the article they would otherwise agree with. It's like that meme about how it's easier to get a correct answer on the Internet by first posting an incorrect one, heh.
Well I ain't dippin' em in the urinal so I guess we're gonna have to agree to disagree.