The only problem is that there is a very distinct difference between real life violence and video game violence. A lot of people grow up playing violent games and have no problem at all. Indeed the vast majority of gamers are pretty well adjusted. But because some small fraction of people can't tell reality from fantasy, they try to tar the whole industry. Face it, if these kids are so messed up that they think that the things you do in video games can be done in reality, then they're going to do something stupid anyway. Maybe they'll get it from a movie, or a book, or a comic book, who knows. But it's not the medium that is the problem, it's the kids and the way they're raised, and possibly a medical condition as well.
Actually that's not true. They only care about the sharing because it leads to what they really care about: people listening to music that they didn't pay for.
Actually, you're wrong and he was right. The act of making those files available to other users is illegal, just as he said. Period. That is what will get you slapped with a lawsuit. You have no way of knowing who is downloading those files from you or whether they own the CD or not, so what you're doing is illegal.
Depends on how far you are willing to go. Are you willing to allow your own life to be destroyed because your spouse decides to gamble away your house, or if he/she becomes physically abusive and is unwilling to get help? Yes, you can stick it out as long as the other is willing to at least work at making things better. If they aren't, then there's no reason to throw your own life away too.
I have noticed, however, that there are a lot of people in whom any mention of God or other religious topics leads to an instant feeling of revulsion.
For some of us, that comes from being in close quarters with obnoxiously religious people for some extended period of time. I can't stand people that can't keep their damn religions to themselves. If they want to have a relationship with whatever they believe to be a god, then fine. Just don't try to drag me into it too.
Well... I don't know if it's technically legal or not. They don't actually sign the forms, but all the legalese is right there on the paper. If they don't bother to read it, that's their own fault. I'm sure they'd swear up and down that the forms are legal if they happen to win whatever the big prize is.
That's the problem I'm having right now. I already own the phone. If I want more minutes, they want me to sign a new 2-year contract. If I refuse, then I'm stuck with the same plan until my contract runs out, at which time I have to buy a new phone for whatever provider I switch to. I can't just cancel without paying off the remainder of the current contract. I hate these companies.
Near the end, the guy mentioned that I could rent their "35,000,000 piece opt-in email list". Bullshit. Nobody has the names of 35M people who want to receive trash in their email simply because there aren't 35M people like that on the entire planet.
No, but the number of idiots on the planet far exceed that number. Many people "opt-in" by filling out sweepstakes forms at the mall or other retail outlet. These forms sometimes ask for email address and if you read the fine print on the back, gives them permission to email crap to you. Judging by the number of overflowing boxes I've seen, 35 million doesn't seem farfetched at all. So no, these people didn't intentionally opt-in, but due to their own negligence, they certainly did technically opt-in.
Then your beef is with his campaigning skill, in which he seems to be lacking, not the skill of the outsourcers in figuring out ways to get around spam filters. That certainly is a skill, even if it happens to be an annoying one.
I'm in a bookstore just about every other day, and yes, many games magazines are sealed, but there's almost always either an unsealed version that doesn't come with CD and whatnot, or a copy or two that someone else has unsealed. It's not too hard to find a copy to thumb through.
Whatever. Demos may only show one level. If that's enough to convince you, then fine, if not, go to other sources. Stand there at the bookstore and read reviews in magazines, free of charge. There are TONS of review sites on the web, and only a small handful are pay sites. From what you're saying, you shouldn't trust the pay sites anyway. Read several reviews. Find reviewers whose tastes align with yours. Read in-depth reviews that really attempt to fully describe the gameplay and any problems with the game. That's how you make decisions. I very rarely purchase a game that isn't what I expect (and those few times that I have, it's because I gave in to the hype. C&C Tiberian Sun is a good example). Learn from your mistakes. Don't buy something if you don't know what you're getting.
Yeah, I liked the feeling of the first one, and the extending hallways and such were a neat effect, but I definitely could have done without the blood trail part. Way too boring and tedious. The game was great though.
I'm trying to recall what engine each of those used. They didn't say they were the first to combine FPS and RPG genres, they said they were first to create an RPG using an FPS game engine (Namely the Half-Life 2 Source engine). Since I can't recall if any of those other games you mention used an FPS game engine or just used their own custom engines, I can't tell if they're right or wrong, but I thought the argument was based on an incorrect interpretation of their comment.
Gamers seem to go out of their way to get a new game the absolute second it's available for sale. Then they bitch and moan about how it wasn't what they expected and didn't have all the features that they read about in an article almost a year ago. Guess who's fault it is that marketing generates sales? Yep, it's the fault of the gamer that doesn't bother to investigate what he's buying. If people would quit rushing to be the first to cram their money into the publisher's pocket, maybe they wouldn't get ripped off so often and maybe publishers would learn that it's more important to create a good game than to generate hype.
I just read this article, addressing exactly what you're talking about. Seems like it would be the kind of issue that would bring a lot of techies to the polls. It mentions toward the end about one guy beginning to lobby for changes in the visa laws.
Had it been Natalie Portman,/. would have taken notice. Think about it. You'd have Natalie Portman naked, projected onto stone. The trolls would post until they collapse into apoplectic fits. The moderators would be powerless to stop them! Natalie Portman naked and petrified, and it's on topic!!
Are the makers of RoboCrap/Sweep going to sue under the DCMA, claiming that this dude reverse engineered the robot?
That would imply that there was actually some engineering involved in the creation of the RoboSweep. I think that's something they'd be hard-pressed to prove in court.
Wow. Sounds like getting busted can do wonders for your self-esteem. Here the guy was probably a basic loser and managed to "hack" into an unsecured FTP server. Then he gets busted for it. Suddenly he's no longer Joe Loser, he's a sophisticated hacker to be feared and respected for his mastery of such arcane skills as using a password cracking app and an FTP app. How can we ever feel safe with such diabolical people out there?
Re:Semi-OT: Don't whine. Do something about it.
on
Buying a New TV?
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· Score: 2, Insightful
If he'd rather have a TV than a trip to Timbuktu, then how is that being wasteful? Maybe we should analyze all of your purchases to see if you're buying things that we think are wasteful.
'it's an audio CD because it plays on some equipment, therefore it must be standard. If it doesn't play on other equipment then maybe you need to look at that equipment.'
This is so logically flawed that it's not even funny. I would have called him on this statement in a heartbeat.
Slashdot Mirror
The only problem is that there is a very distinct difference between real life violence and video game violence. A lot of people grow up playing violent games and have no problem at all. Indeed the vast majority of gamers are pretty well adjusted. But because some small fraction of people can't tell reality from fantasy, they try to tar the whole industry. Face it, if these kids are so messed up that they think that the things you do in video games can be done in reality, then they're going to do something stupid anyway. Maybe they'll get it from a movie, or a book, or a comic book, who knows. But it's not the medium that is the problem, it's the kids and the way they're raised, and possibly a medical condition as well.
Actually that's not true. They only care about the sharing because it leads to what they really care about: people listening to music that they didn't pay for.
Actually, you're wrong and he was right. The act of making those files available to other users is illegal, just as he said. Period. That is what will get you slapped with a lawsuit. You have no way of knowing who is downloading those files from you or whether they own the CD or not, so what you're doing is illegal.
Depends on how far you are willing to go. Are you willing to allow your own life to be destroyed because your spouse decides to gamble away your house, or if he/she becomes physically abusive and is unwilling to get help? Yes, you can stick it out as long as the other is willing to at least work at making things better. If they aren't, then there's no reason to throw your own life away too.
Obviosuly there are some spammers using fraud to make a profit, but I think it is probably less than half.
So that's what... only several million spammers doing it?
No, I don't. At least not unless they bring it up.
I have noticed, however, that there are a lot of people in whom any mention of God or other religious topics leads to an instant feeling of revulsion.
For some of us, that comes from being in close quarters with obnoxiously religious people for some extended period of time. I can't stand people that can't keep their damn religions to themselves. If they want to have a relationship with whatever they believe to be a god, then fine. Just don't try to drag me into it too.
However, the effect we're having on it is pretty clear: destroy and degrade it with pollution.
Which means we'd better hurry up and explore it asap, before all the cool stuff dies off.
I still have my beta disc of Battlezone. The tanks were a freaking blast to drive :) Great game!
Well... I don't know if it's technically legal or not. They don't actually sign the forms, but all the legalese is right there on the paper. If they don't bother to read it, that's their own fault. I'm sure they'd swear up and down that the forms are legal if they happen to win whatever the big prize is.
That's the problem I'm having right now. I already own the phone. If I want more minutes, they want me to sign a new 2-year contract. If I refuse, then I'm stuck with the same plan until my contract runs out, at which time I have to buy a new phone for whatever provider I switch to. I can't just cancel without paying off the remainder of the current contract. I hate these companies.
Near the end, the guy mentioned that I could rent their "35,000,000 piece opt-in email list". Bullshit. Nobody has the names of 35M people who want to receive trash in their email simply because there aren't 35M people like that on the entire planet.
No, but the number of idiots on the planet far exceed that number. Many people "opt-in" by filling out sweepstakes forms at the mall or other retail outlet. These forms sometimes ask for email address and if you read the fine print on the back, gives them permission to email crap to you. Judging by the number of overflowing boxes I've seen, 35 million doesn't seem farfetched at all. So no, these people didn't intentionally opt-in, but due to their own negligence, they certainly did technically opt-in.
Then your beef is with his campaigning skill, in which he seems to be lacking, not the skill of the outsourcers in figuring out ways to get around spam filters. That certainly is a skill, even if it happens to be an annoying one.
I'm in a bookstore just about every other day, and yes, many games magazines are sealed, but there's almost always either an unsealed version that doesn't come with CD and whatnot, or a copy or two that someone else has unsealed. It's not too hard to find a copy to thumb through.
Whatever. Demos may only show one level. If that's enough to convince you, then fine, if not, go to other sources. Stand there at the bookstore and read reviews in magazines, free of charge. There are TONS of review sites on the web, and only a small handful are pay sites. From what you're saying, you shouldn't trust the pay sites anyway. Read several reviews. Find reviewers whose tastes align with yours. Read in-depth reviews that really attempt to fully describe the gameplay and any problems with the game. That's how you make decisions. I very rarely purchase a game that isn't what I expect (and those few times that I have, it's because I gave in to the hype. C&C Tiberian Sun is a good example). Learn from your mistakes. Don't buy something if you don't know what you're getting.
Yeah, I liked the feeling of the first one, and the extending hallways and such were a neat effect, but I definitely could have done without the blood trail part. Way too boring and tedious. The game was great though.
I'm trying to recall what engine each of those used. They didn't say they were the first to combine FPS and RPG genres, they said they were first to create an RPG using an FPS game engine (Namely the Half-Life 2 Source engine). Since I can't recall if any of those other games you mention used an FPS game engine or just used their own custom engines, I can't tell if they're right or wrong, but I thought the argument was based on an incorrect interpretation of their comment.
Why, why hasn't there been a game like that recently?
:P
Because DX2: Invisible War isn't out yet.
Gamers seem to go out of their way to get a new game the absolute second it's available for sale. Then they bitch and moan about how it wasn't what they expected and didn't have all the features that they read about in an article almost a year ago. Guess who's fault it is that marketing generates sales? Yep, it's the fault of the gamer that doesn't bother to investigate what he's buying. If people would quit rushing to be the first to cram their money into the publisher's pocket, maybe they wouldn't get ripped off so often and maybe publishers would learn that it's more important to create a good game than to generate hype.
I just read this article, addressing exactly what you're talking about. Seems like it would be the kind of issue that would bring a lot of techies to the polls. It mentions toward the end about one guy beginning to lobby for changes in the visa laws.
Had it been Natalie Portman, /. would have taken notice. Think about it. You'd have Natalie Portman naked, projected onto stone. The trolls would post until they collapse into apoplectic fits. The moderators would be powerless to stop them! Natalie Portman naked and petrified, and it's on topic!!
Are the makers of RoboCrap/Sweep going to sue under the DCMA, claiming that this dude reverse engineered the robot?
That would imply that there was actually some engineering involved in the creation of the RoboSweep. I think that's something they'd be hard-pressed to prove in court.
Wow. Sounds like getting busted can do wonders for your self-esteem. Here the guy was probably a basic loser and managed to "hack" into an unsecured FTP server. Then he gets busted for it. Suddenly he's no longer Joe Loser, he's a sophisticated hacker to be feared and respected for his mastery of such arcane skills as using a password cracking app and an FTP app. How can we ever feel safe with such diabolical people out there?
If he'd rather have a TV than a trip to Timbuktu, then how is that being wasteful? Maybe we should analyze all of your purchases to see if you're buying things that we think are wasteful.
'it's an audio CD because it plays on some equipment, therefore it must be standard. If it doesn't play on other equipment then maybe you need to look at that equipment.'
This is so logically flawed that it's not even funny. I would have called him on this statement in a heartbeat.
Wait a minute, would that be called a Legal DDoS? Same idea right?
Yep. It worked for the $cientologists. It could work for Linux too. I wonder if legal DDoSing is a patentable business model...