Is Vivendi responsible for maintenance of the Steam system? (That was rhetorical - they're not.) If not for Valve's damned Steam, Vivendi would have put out Half-Life 2 WITHOUT online CD-key verification (at least until trying to join an online match).
While I'm aware it will make no difference, I've decided to forego what I'm sure would be the pleasure of playing Half-Life 2 on the PC. I've done so because I consider Steam to be a pox (verified by this incident). It's one thing to be stuck with Windows XP's online verification (which I also dislike) because that OS is necessary for my purposes. But a game with the same kind of oppression I can live without. I might give the game a chance when it reaches consoles (yes, Xbox Live has its restrictions but I know that when I buy a game I'll be able to play it until I no longer have a working console). While it won't be in its best graphical form, it'll still be better than installing Valve's crapfest on my PC.
I got it immediately, and if I had mod points I'd toss one out to make sure it hit the people browsing at 1. That being said, linking to the adult film database? Wow. I mean, really, wow. Hehe.
Dark Angel failed because after producing a pretty entertaining first season, they changed things around and made a really terrible second season. Even staring at Jessica Alba wasn't enough to carry me to the fourth episode of the second season.
Just in case you're kidding, it was The Matrix (released by New Line, a division of AOL/Time Warner). I would argue, though, that The Matrix was less a hit because of the science fiction and more a hit based on being a rocking action movie. Firefly, on the other hand, is more traditional science fiction fare despite the western theme which makes it a bit different.
You can prettify it all you want. The bottom line is that there ARE people who bought the game and are unable to play it because Valve has decided to ban them based on the fact that they don't want to put in the CD-ROM every time they play the game. You're welcome to proselytize for the strict EULA advocates, but this is the kind of thing that discourages PC gaming. People spend long periods of time installing multiple gigs of data on their PC and then the asshat publishers/developers force you to have the CD-ROM handy anyway. Then, Valve uses their "Steam Power" to screw over people who don't want to follow a really stupid rule - note that they didn't just re-patch to evade the crack but instead prevented even legitimate players from using the game. Every time someone pulls something like this it's going to disillusion a PC gamer and they're going to be that much less likely to buy the next game.
I expect that if the police have a serious interest in discovering who wrote an "anonymous" [color laser-printed] letter, that letter was probably either in violation of the law or part of a violation of the law. I doubt that they care about your letter to President Bush telling him that "he sucks" using a fancy rainbow effect.
Why I Hate Game Reviews 101: "Save your money.." "The game is great..."
Wouldn't, by definition, a "great" game be one which a person should buy? I'd recommend learning how to write better reviews but the truth is that 90% of game reviews are similarly bad and I wouldn't know where to look for good ones.
I was ready to wait until Jan/Feb to pick one up for the fact that Animal Crossing DS and Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles DS were supposed to be out. Now as I look at the release schedule, AC has been moved out to next SEPTEMBER - ouch. Looks like I'll be able to save my money for quite a while. Like most consoles, this one is not, IMO, a must-buy-early situation unless you're trying to outdo everyone in terms of buying a gift for a kid.
PS: Yes, it's substantially the same as the acids in your stomach, but that certainly doesn't make it safe. Acid reflux (commonly referred to as heartburn) is no joke. Given time it can mess up the upper GI tract permanently - and that's the "all natural" stuff.
Having taken a whiff of fumes given off by boiling hydrochloric acid (that day, I was the world's dumbest 10th grader and did it on purpose because I wanted to smell it directly), it's not a test I would recommend. Just the little bit I took in burned my trachea somethin' fierce and was painful for three days.
What you're describing would be a tiny subset of the gaming population, and one to which it would be of little to no use to market. If a person is playing 1-2 hours per week, particularly if that person enjoyed RPGs, how many games would s/he be likely to buy in a year? In FIVE YEARS? That kind of gamer would be the sort to buy and enjoy Tetris or solitaire, a very low-margin customer.
No, you've crossed the line into being ridiculous. There is no good reason to market a massively multiplayer game that catered to someone who plays video games 1-2 hours a week because that type of person would be the absolutely LEAST likely to pay ANY monthly fee. Good God, at that rate one game of Civilization would take 4-12 friggin' weeks! That's great if you're playing by e-mail, but it's certainly not worth a publisher making special design decisions in order to tap that market.
And I think the question of value is an easy one to answer and demonstrates pretty damn well that MMOGs are a good deal (if, of course, you enjoy them).
215
Here's my example: Let's take an MMOG that costs $50 up front including 30 days and $15/month thereafter. Even if you can only average a half-hour per day per month over a year's time, that's about $1.20/hour. If you're having fun during those hours, I'd say the cost was worth it. If you hate it, of course, you're out the $50, just as you would be if you bought Doom 3 and hated it (though mods could improve the fun/price ratio).
Now, if gaining experience points is the only measure of fun, then, yeah, the ultra-casual player would pay a lot more per experience point. That, however, I find to be a pretty boring way to play these games and the mentality that causes the droning on about "level grinding."
I don't buy into this at all. First off, the vast majority of the MMOGs available give 30 days "free" with the purchase price. This gives more than enough time to figure out if the game is enjoyable enough to continue into the next month when the subscription fees kick in. Second, I think that the expectations for MMOGs are ridiculously high. People don't seem to bat an eye at blowing $50 for less than a day's worth of eye candy with weak gameplay (hi, Doom 3) even knowing IN ADVANCE the length of the game. This being the case, $50 seems like a small price to pay for a month in a game where you know up front that you're not going to finish the content before that month is up.
In short, I think the perceived value and the actual value of these games have been disconnected to a ridiculous degree.
No, it really doesn't hurt the short-time player that much worse since the time spent paying off the debt, expressed as a percentage of time played, should be the same.
As someone who has played MMOGs both casually and obsessively, the commonly proposed idea that there should be some crutch for people who play less than others is just ridiculous. Someone who plays less has access to the same content as someone who plays all the time - it just takes longer to get to it. Should someone who has only an hour a day to play Final Fantasy X be able to finish the game in the same two days that the person who plays straight through might?
I'd like to see piracy get knocked down a notch. I want games to be cheaper to buy. If that means waiting 3 hours when I buy a game, so be it.
{{snickering}}
You do realize that the videogame prices have BARELY changed in 20 years, right? Long before the Interweb - hell, long before most people had and used modems regularly allowing for easier piracy - videogames (at least the good ones) cost at least US$40 a pop. Any game developer/publisher claiming videogame prices would go down if piracy decreased is selling you a line of BS.
PS- It's amazing how many apologists there are for Valve's Steam crap considering how bitter folks STILL ARE about Microsoft's product activation scheme (and the latter "loses" far more money on piracy than Valve could ever dream of "losing" on their games).
Actually, Vivendi is trying to protect their profits. Assuming the game isn't available from every retailer, if Valve opens up the Steam authentication then people who can't get HL2 at their local store will possibly purchase it through Steam. It's perfectly reasonable for Vivendi to want the authentication delayed until the boxes are available in all the outlets to which they've been shipped.
I admit that I'm not up at the most recent couple generations of video chipsets (except in the sense that I've read some reviews), but isn't the most likely explanation for this that ATI does a better job with thermal output and power consumption?
I don't buy many PC games anymore (three consoles and a nice TV makes upgrading my PC low on the priority list), but my Half-Life Platinum (purchased about three months ago) came in paper sleeves, Neverwinter Nights came in sleeves, Freelancer came in a cardboard sleeve. The only PC game I've bought recently that included a jewel case was The Sims 2 - I think EA is a company that still includes cases, generally.
Say it twice. I, at most, watch an episode of X-Play per month (and often that's a show from months before - nice!). I see people lamenting Unscrewed and can't understand it even a bit. I found the show unwatchable. Screen Savers was okay but nearly useless to anyone with experience and internet savvy.
Short version? I can only hope that G4 in its entirety eventually folds and something decent, like maybe yet another Discovery subchannel, takes its place.
I don't have a problem with the idea of requiring people to have DVD-ROM - frankly, it's past due. My biggest reason has less to do with the inconvenience of disc swapping during install (though obviating that need is delicious) and more to do with the fact that if disc 4/6 goes wonky then I'm SOL when I go to install a game. But, I have to take some small issue with this:
As far as media longevity, I have this to say. Stop storing your media outside the proper cases!
It's not very helpful when so many PC games come with no cases at all. My copy of Half-Life (with all the expansions), for example, came in a bunch of paper sleeves. You know, because Half-Life didn't make enough money to pay for CD cases. Even the evil companies of the RIAA spring for a CD case for their crappy $2.99 compilation CDs.
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While I'm aware it will make no difference, I've decided to forego what I'm sure would be the pleasure of playing Half-Life 2 on the PC. I've done so because I consider Steam to be a pox (verified by this incident). It's one thing to be stuck with Windows XP's online verification (which I also dislike) because that OS is necessary for my purposes. But a game with the same kind of oppression I can live without. I might give the game a chance when it reaches consoles (yes, Xbox Live has its restrictions but I know that when I buy a game I'll be able to play it until I no longer have a working console). While it won't be in its best graphical form, it'll still be better than installing Valve's crapfest on my PC.
I got it immediately, and if I had mod points I'd toss one out to make sure it hit the people browsing at 1. That being said, linking to the adult film database? Wow. I mean, really, wow. Hehe.
Dark Angel failed because after producing a pretty entertaining first season, they changed things around and made a really terrible second season. Even staring at Jessica Alba wasn't enough to carry me to the fourth episode of the second season.
Just in case you're kidding, it was The Matrix (released by New Line, a division of AOL/Time Warner). I would argue, though, that The Matrix was less a hit because of the science fiction and more a hit based on being a rocking action movie. Firefly, on the other hand, is more traditional science fiction fare despite the western theme which makes it a bit different.
But it's cheap trash and that makes all the difference to TV networks, hence the surge in reality TV over the past few years.
You can prettify it all you want. The bottom line is that there ARE people who bought the game and are unable to play it because Valve has decided to ban them based on the fact that they don't want to put in the CD-ROM every time they play the game. You're welcome to proselytize for the strict EULA advocates, but this is the kind of thing that discourages PC gaming. People spend long periods of time installing multiple gigs of data on their PC and then the asshat publishers/developers force you to have the CD-ROM handy anyway. Then, Valve uses their "Steam Power" to screw over people who don't want to follow a really stupid rule - note that they didn't just re-patch to evade the crack but instead prevented even legitimate players from using the game. Every time someone pulls something like this it's going to disillusion a PC gamer and they're going to be that much less likely to buy the next game.
I expect that if the police have a serious interest in discovering who wrote an "anonymous" [color laser-printed] letter, that letter was probably either in violation of the law or part of a violation of the law. I doubt that they care about your letter to President Bush telling him that "he sucks" using a fancy rainbow effect.
Wouldn't, by definition, a "great" game be one which a person should buy? I'd recommend learning how to write better reviews but the truth is that 90% of game reviews are similarly bad and I wouldn't know where to look for good ones.
I was ready to wait until Jan/Feb to pick one up for the fact that Animal Crossing DS and Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles DS were supposed to be out. Now as I look at the release schedule, AC has been moved out to next SEPTEMBER - ouch. Looks like I'll be able to save my money for quite a while. Like most consoles, this one is not, IMO, a must-buy-early situation unless you're trying to outdo everyone in terms of buying a gift for a kid.
Right after I participated in a conspiracy to kill my brother? Just the once.
PS: Yes, it's substantially the same as the acids in your stomach, but that certainly doesn't make it safe. Acid reflux (commonly referred to as heartburn) is no joke. Given time it can mess up the upper GI tract permanently - and that's the "all natural" stuff.
Having taken a whiff of fumes given off by boiling hydrochloric acid (that day, I was the world's dumbest 10th grader and did it on purpose because I wanted to smell it directly), it's not a test I would recommend. Just the little bit I took in burned my trachea somethin' fierce and was painful for three days.
No, you've crossed the line into being ridiculous. There is no good reason to market a massively multiplayer game that catered to someone who plays video games 1-2 hours a week because that type of person would be the absolutely LEAST likely to pay ANY monthly fee. Good God, at that rate one game of Civilization would take 4-12 friggin' weeks! That's great if you're playing by e-mail, but it's certainly not worth a publisher making special design decisions in order to tap that market.
215 Here's my example: Let's take an MMOG that costs $50 up front including 30 days and $15/month thereafter. Even if you can only average a half-hour per day per month over a year's time, that's about $1.20/hour. If you're having fun during those hours, I'd say the cost was worth it. If you hate it, of course, you're out the $50, just as you would be if you bought Doom 3 and hated it (though mods could improve the fun/price ratio).
Now, if gaining experience points is the only measure of fun, then, yeah, the ultra-casual player would pay a lot more per experience point. That, however, I find to be a pretty boring way to play these games and the mentality that causes the droning on about "level grinding."
In short, I think the perceived value and the actual value of these games have been disconnected to a ridiculous degree.
As someone who has played MMOGs both casually and obsessively, the commonly proposed idea that there should be some crutch for people who play less than others is just ridiculous. Someone who plays less has access to the same content as someone who plays all the time - it just takes longer to get to it. Should someone who has only an hour a day to play Final Fantasy X be able to finish the game in the same two days that the person who plays straight through might?
{{snickering}}
You do realize that the videogame prices have BARELY changed in 20 years, right? Long before the Interweb - hell, long before most people had and used modems regularly allowing for easier piracy - videogames (at least the good ones) cost at least US$40 a pop. Any game developer/publisher claiming videogame prices would go down if piracy decreased is selling you a line of BS.
PS- It's amazing how many apologists there are for Valve's Steam crap considering how bitter folks STILL ARE about Microsoft's product activation scheme (and the latter "loses" far more money on piracy than Valve could ever dream of "losing" on their games).
My dad always told me that if you cheat by yourself you'd go blind.
I refer you to my post in the previous discussion because, well, I'm a friggin' genius.
Actually, Vivendi is trying to protect their profits. Assuming the game isn't available from every retailer, if Valve opens up the Steam authentication then people who can't get HL2 at their local store will possibly purchase it through Steam. It's perfectly reasonable for Vivendi to want the authentication delayed until the boxes are available in all the outlets to which they've been shipped.
I admit that I'm not up at the most recent couple generations of video chipsets (except in the sense that I've read some reviews), but isn't the most likely explanation for this that ATI does a better job with thermal output and power consumption?
I don't buy many PC games anymore (three consoles and a nice TV makes upgrading my PC low on the priority list), but my Half-Life Platinum (purchased about three months ago) came in paper sleeves, Neverwinter Nights came in sleeves, Freelancer came in a cardboard sleeve. The only PC game I've bought recently that included a jewel case was The Sims 2 - I think EA is a company that still includes cases, generally.
So he was a fan of freezing rain?
Short version? I can only hope that G4 in its entirety eventually folds and something decent, like maybe yet another Discovery subchannel, takes its place.
As far as media longevity, I have this to say. Stop storing your media outside the proper cases!
It's not very helpful when so many PC games come with no cases at all. My copy of Half-Life (with all the expansions), for example, came in a bunch of paper sleeves. You know, because Half-Life didn't make enough money to pay for CD cases. Even the evil companies of the RIAA spring for a CD case for their crappy $2.99 compilation CDs.