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This comic says it all :-)

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/01/20

There's a great penny arcade on this very subject

When I write emails that I want to be anonymous, I mostly just degrade the quality of writing. I start imitating the people on video game forums.

Is it me or does the parent sound like this?

Great analogy! You're like a.. like a SHARK! :)

The guys at Penny-Arcade (http://www.penny-arcade.com/ have had the right idea for an awards show for a while: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2003/12/22 The're right you know...

The guys at Penny-Arcade (http://www.penny-arcade.com/ have had the right idea for an awards show for a while: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2003/12/22 The're right you know...

Ugh.. A.I.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2001/07/09

"Let's be honest, there are very few games in which the actual crafting process appeals to anyone except the obsessive compulsive grinder, and EQ2 was (is) no exception."

As I was saying, I'm at the moment not discussing whether it actually is more fun or not, nor passing judgment about the mental illnesses (e.g., in your words, "obsessive compulsive grinder") of those who like X instead of Y. The argument about EQ2 crafting being somehow superior, however, did get posted all over the place, and even managed to get a nodding mention on Penny Arcade. That was pretty much _the_ ISO-standard EQ2 fan argument, so it was quite hard to miss it even if you wanted to.

At any rate, apparently some people liked that. Or maybe they just liked the fact that unlike the WoW economy here crafting actually wasn't just a money-sink and excuse to grind for materials/reputation/whatever. Or whatever, really. Some people liked it.

And changing it wantonly just adds another group of people who are disgruntled with the changes. It doesn't matter if in the grand scheme of things they're right or wrong, or how well someone can rationalize the changes. Changing an existing game with an established player base, always pisses off some of them. It's not even news: we all knew it at least since the Quake 2 and 3 changes, or the massive outcry against the lag compensation in Counter-Strike (much as it was actually the right thing to do) or really the changes in any other game. Doing it repeatedly back and forth, just pisses off more people and pisses them off harder.

That's all I wanted to say about Sony's changes: each wave of them just adds more people who liked the old way more. And there are a lot of such changes happening all the time. If it's not crafting, it's combat, or balance, or NPC strength at a given level (yay for the fun of having to switch from shield, to two hander, to shield again, to dual-wield), or everything else. And then it'll change again, just to also offend those who liked the new way.

That's the whole problem with the massive stream of changes: they keep pissing off more and more people. Whether Sony is right or wrong about the changes is pretty much irrelevant there, because Sony is still bleeding customers as a result.

The interview was less than inspired.
    The answers were PR fluff and tired.

    http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/01/20

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/07/04

No, seriously, please. Just move along. For the love of the Force, our dev team has been raping your childhood memories like a Gungan on crystal meth for over three years now, and the only thing we've done that was even remotely cool was sending 1200 donuts to Gabe and Tycho of Penny Arcade last week.

And you're still here?

Please. Move. Along.

Cautiously optimistic? Don't make me get Ackbar out here.

No, seriously, please. Just move along. For the love of the Force, our dev team has been raping your childhood memories like a Gungan on crystal meth for over three years now, and the only thing we've done that was even remotely cool was sending 1200 donuts to Gabe and Tycho of Penny Arcade last week.

And you're still here?

Please. Move. Along.

Cautiously optimistic? Don't make me get Ackbar out here.

I bugs the crap out of me that I had to work my ass off for the 640gold to buy an epic mount that looks like a rat with horns, aka Alterac Valley ram, and some punk with rl cash didn't have to work for it at all. Yeah they work for the cash they spend on the gold but it is a game and should be kept seperate from rl.

If gold farming is here to stay then as much as I dispise what paying real life currency for virtual items in a virtual world I would much prefer companies go the route of Sony Marketplace where real life currency for items is only allowed on specified servers. Hopefully then players like me won't have to deal with it as much.

However the Apple sites, along with other sites (I bet CNET is guilty of this too) instantly took this as "They are announcing the tablet Mac!", or "They are announcing the video iPod", or "The new Newton is coming!".

They were responsible for all the hype.

And the announcement of the Mini wasn't anything to sneeze at either. It means that now all consumer Apple computers (except the Laptops) are on Intel processors.

On a side note, I wish they would make a new Newton. I would love one. Apple is so good at interfaces.

PS: Also, the guys over a Penny-Arcade have gone Mac and they really like it so far. Check out their post about it (and the comic). They said they'd provide more details tomorrow (Monday).

... M$ astroturfers and other assholes will follow you where ever you go ...

But... but... I just got a Mac Mini (PowerPC)... surely I'll be left alone?! Then again, maybe not. :P

Yeah, it's like you're a shark.

But Sony Online Entertainment also sent them 1,200 Krispy Kreme donuts*, so the guys at SOE can't be all that bad.

Now Krispy Kreme... well, those bastards closed the shop I've been getting donuts at for the last 7 years, so I've been a bit more pissed at them than at Sony.

*About half way down the page
http://www.penny-arcade.com/

Microsoft has been showing the signs of being able to build a search engine to rival Google for some time now.

How much did they pay you to write that?

of SOE at Penny Arcade!!!

Obligatory PA: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19 Fortnuately, real life is missing that anonymity, and has real consequences to real bullshit.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/01/20

The internet has made it much easier for these smaller companies to actually sell these devices without having to have massive global production and distribution mechanisms in place. However, smaller volume also means it is MUCH harder to get good reviews on the products. There are web boards, but they can easily be co-opted
So is it even possible to find an honest place for reviews of not so mainstream products?

Well, you're not quite completely free. And in the case you describe, since Fargo is still under copyright, you'd be giving your lawyer an uphill battle.

Now, if you want to start from a work no longer under copyright, and use that to base your movie on, your lawyer will have to put in a lot fewer billable hours. What he invoices may be another story, but that's between him, the FBI, and Grisham's copyright lawyer.

Frankly, I think White Wolf's case over Underworld was roughly the same caliber as this one for the DaVinci code, and WW were not-quite laughed out of court by the judge.

I mean, Penny Arcade covered this kind of "shill-age" being performed by major companies days ago. They even made a comic about it. Really though, anyone surprised by this news story is woefully naive... speaking of which, anyone want to buy this golden bridge in San Fransico? Real cheap.

The 4 million readers of Penny Arcade? After all, a short while ago they almost "wanged" Slashdot with visits.

Looks like Gabe took it down, but you can see how it started.

This practice was onlined in the penny-arcade comic:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/09/12

While it might be misleading Activision is right in asserting that using pre-rendered footage is common practice.

Yeah, so they can learn about He-man.

Is there anyone out there who is surprised by this news? I was under the impression that it was now common knowledge that Infinium Labs is a swirling vortex of waste and misery.

At the risk of feeding a troll...

What kind of LOSER would want to watch porn on an inch-and-a-half screen? Other than, of course, those majestic shitheads who proclaim loudly and consistently that they love porn and then expect me to be impressed because they're rebelling against societal acceptability.

Not me, because I don't have a phone. But I know plenty of so-called "majestic shitheads" who like nothing more than seeing porn on their phones, and spend lots of money downloading it and/or sending it on to others. Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean there is no market for it.

As far as telcos are concerned, the more data you have, the more likely you are to send/recieve data through them, the more money they get. Same goes for third-party companies that make movies, ringtones and all the other crap that people put on their phones nowadays.

Take the internet as an analogy - porn and piracy have been two of the dominant driving forces behind it to date. Obligatory geek reference As storage capacity increases it's hardly surprising that traffic in these increases too, and where there's traffic there's usually an opportunity for money. Why should phones be any different?

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/12/31

I've played games on various platforms with my wife since the day we met (WoW, Mario Kart, Quake, etc). She wasn't really into games before we met, but now she comes to LAN parties with me.

However, I have a job, and she stays at home with the kids. She can play when they nap. All I can say is that there's some serious truth to that comic.

Obligatory vaguely-related geek reference...

There seems to be scientific proof that
Normal Person + Annonymity in the web + Audience = Total Fuckwad. Always keep that in mind.

Parent post correctly points out the importance of morality. Lack of it will lead a kid to become a bully in school. Too much morality, and he/she will end up being bullied.

"how much more can they possibly do?"

Clearly with the war effort going as well as it has been, and with the troops under the wing of such a glorious leader, it is time to turn our attentions to better teaching the people of the Middle East how to fulfill the promise of democracy and freedom for all.

Yes, a 24 hour US government news agency in the middle east is exactly what we need to raise our profile there. And not just satellite tv, but newspapers, people on street corners talking into cell phones, police officers with funny looking badges visiting schools, secret service agents with vans making people disappear in the middle of the night... Forget I said that last one.

Yes, it is a glorious, democratic future awaiting the middle east, and we just have to show them how. And who better to do it than Haliburton, America's #1 trusted news source? Haliburton, when you need it done right, without the pansy left.

("psst. Can I get my five bucks now?")

The standing theory on this topic is referred to as John Gabriel's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory. For those interested, you may see it here.
Please note, this was discovered by one of the authors of the penny arcade comic circa March, 2004.

Old argument. So old Penny-Arcade addressed it nearly 2 years go:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19

Still cracks me up though.

Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory? http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19

Comic

http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/02/ 09/0433252
http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/01/ 29/1732238

Even with usernames/audit trails, the only difference is the "idiot" is identifiable. I'm not condemning Wiki, in fact as far as knowledge bases are concerned, it is incredibly powerful as a starting point of research, and for the most part fairly accurate. But erronious information does make its way into Wiki, and as the above artcles point out, people with an agenda of their own can make changes, and no amount of "accountability" is going to change that. The same thing will occur with an online spreadsheet like application with Wiki-type properties. While it has potential to be a useful technology, just like anything, if not set properly, it will be abused.

So I defend myself from your virtual "beating sense into my head" with an opionion better expressed by others.

Or better yet from here.

One day in the future...

I believe Penny Arcade put it best.

Microsoft isn't the only one.

Have you been huffing paint?

They've got a couple of nice Twisp & Catsby wallpapers, too: http://www.penny-arcade.com/pa_wallpapers.php

He just needs to master the phrase, "It's not for you."

-Adam

I am an expert in counter terrorism thanks to Counter-Strike!

I'd rather see pictochat via the NDS wifi so I can have conversations like this. Really I have been looking for a portable that I can just do email and IM for a very affordable price, but haven't found anything to my liking. Web browsing can wait until I get to a computer most of the time, but I do love google's SMS service for my old phone when I need to find a store outside of office or home.

Gah! Advertisement drones have infiltrated slashdot!

PS, I'm a real person and I love Newegg

for serious

And I don't think a better comment on the process can be found than right here.

Chris Mattern