I am a firm believer that Origin/EA's decision to cancel UO2 was one of the poorest business/gaming decisions made, on par with Daikatana. Instead of supporting a game that parallels the graphical technology of other game, has a more robust combat system, and a far more modular engine, they decided to do updates to an outdated piece of junk.
And there was actually support for UO2! The fansite forums were crazy with thousands of rabid fans salivating over playing the game. In the newly emerging world of MMORPG's, this is the type of attitude a game company *wants* its customers to have. Compare this with the hype about a 3d graphics upgrade to UO. Hear that huge scream of enthusiasm from fans of a five year old game? No? I don't either. While I agree that there will be a set of die hard gamers that will stick to UO, like they do in other games (Hell, Meridian 59 is still running:)), in two or three years, the ramifications of Origin's poor decision will set in, and guess who is going to have the most market share... EQ, UO, or EQ2?
They could have had a majority of the market.. I could go on for hours about the awesome features they were going to put in, bla bla bla... Now what will they have.
You're being overly analytical with regards to Ballmer's comments. Ballmer is far from a walled up shy businessperson, and he would have no reservations about trying some light humor. The fact that his monologues are 'infamous' backs that up; he was probably kidding around with the comment about Xbox's greatness, perhaps playing on the constant hype Seamus and Co. tried to throw around.
In that it mimicked small text-based RPG's and actually developed a community that multiplied its attractiveness tenfold. To gain popularity, MMORPG's will have to tend to the player-centric mentality that is common in all video games... otherwise, the player becomes a useless extension of the world. This can be done one of two ways:
1. Create a close-knit community, with many fragmented servers and about 1000 people max per server. Allow some sort of mass communication to make it like a chat room, build a small enough world so that people are constantly interacting, and display the status of people often (x was killed by y, etc). Mass communication will develop the community, and cooperation will flourish as a result of this communication and a relatively small world. I play Meridian 59 to this day with hundreds of others... the close-knit community setting sets it apart from RPG's like Everquest and AC by offsetting the monotony of leveling.
2. Allow complete control of the game world... This would require a humongous dynamic world, in which players could construct and destroy everything as they saw fit. This would propel interaction to new heights but would require a *lot* of innovations about pretty much every aspect of MMORPG's... So I think that's a bit off.
Current RPG's often amount to little more than single player games with no plotline. Community *is* the driving force behind these games, and it needs to be incorporated as such, or MMORPG's will remain as level fests and not as games.
Any RPG's coming out that try to veer away from this formula? I know UO2 was going to innovate in several areas, but sadly Origin decided to wage war against UO2's huge fan base and dedicate efforts to revamp its aging UO franchise... Blah... The success they could have had with UO2... *sigh*
P.S.: Shameless plug: Meridian 59 link (it's alive again!), if anyone is interested: http://meridian59.neardeathstudios.com/index.shtml
Re:Its funny our attitude about success...
on
Soviet Moon Rocket
·
· Score: 1
Because as we all know our beloved United States of America would publish every gruesome detail about the deaths of its astronauts in testing, as it has been perfectly truthful and trustworthy in the past.
Blah, whether intentional or not... the wording of your post backs up my viewpoint.
Your juxtapositioning of his professional life (through the use of the word 'posterboy') and his personal life (porno watching) implies that his achievements should be viewed in light of his personal activities.
Just so you know that wasn't a completely unfounded irrational response;)
You ever get into a position of some power, and some jackass starts digging up crap from your early days. It doesn't matter, he wouldn't find anything 'naughty', because we know you, like all of us, are perfect. It's irrelevant whether one posts on slashdot, jacks off to porn, or whether he or she posts to alt.sex.fluffy-toys.barney in his or her free time. That's personal. Don't let personal interfere with professional. Perfect example that most slashdotters should be familiar with now: Nash. I could go around saying:
What was our posterboy doing in 1963? That's right, hanging around gay bars looking to satisfy his fetishes.
Who cares? The man's a genius. Let him do with his frickin' free time as he wishes. Not all succesful people have to be bereft of life, humor, or recklessness. Not all successful people are perfect. Some are. . . guess what, they're boring.
Interesting experiment
on
To The Pain
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
It would be interesting to set up a statistical test to compare the performance of two relatively large groups to determine if there is a significant increase in pong (or any game) playing skills when using a stimulant such as pain. Have any studies like this been performed?
Obviously, Pavlov's experiments with dogs come to mind, but the question is whether this recognition would significantly translate to digital skills, or would increase in skill be matched by non-pained individuals? Would degree of pain matter?
It would be interesting to note the threshold at which pain stops benefitting.
I think the RIAA is aware that it gets some boosted sales through increased exposure to music, however, their main target with new legislation isn't your generation, but, more importantly, future generations. Even though I don't agree with the means they are trying to pursue, they realize that they can not retain their iron grip over music and strong sales, as my generation will not pursue the same philosophies as yours. I constantly see these posts on slashdot, anecdotal experiences about purchasing music due to a p2p utility, but I don't see this sort of activity occuring among my peers.
Let me clarify: I'm a 17 year old in a fairly rich suburban high school region. . . Even in the face of prosperity, most of the kids involved in p2p sharing in our school are doing so without the intentions of ever buying a CD. Even though this is a well-off suburban region, most kids are fairly limited in money supply - when balancing movies, friends, and everyday food, music is the easiest to scratch off the list because it can be obtained from p2p. As we get more and more accustomed to the idea of downloading music for free, buying music may become foreign to us, thereby locking off a large market segment for the RIAA.
In the past two years, even though I have downloaded over 3000 songs, I have not purchased a single CD. In fact, the mentality I have described has pervaded me that I do not think I will ever buy a CD. Rinse and repeat for most of my classmates, for whom piracy of music has become so commonplace that they ask why they should spend their hard earned money when they can just download for free.
Granted, the RIAA should embrace this changing market as opposed to rough-handing the changing market to its own needs. However, I do not think that the argument of a net benefit from the piracy of music will hold weight for much longer.
>>>Sigh. And what's the point in that when the purpose of the games is to help you to spend some time away from the reality!?
Niet!
Uhh, the point is that in reality you can't plant C4 explosives under skyscrapers and watch them crumble, you can't engage in high speed police chases/gunfights, nor can you screw your favorite three supermodels at the same time (Unless your name is Cowboyneal. . . let me check. . . no, it isn't;). Real life graphics would immerse you more in this world rather than remind you of reality.
Wow. They'll get a 1% drop in sales. Whoop-dee-doo. Sorry, you're not being realistic. Even if all slashdotters boycotted Blizzard games, it wouldn't make a difference. And all Slashdotters won't boycott blizzard games, because Blizzard games are some of the best games on the market. So be realistic. . with boycotting, start smaller, or at least don't rally everyone against something they won't affect.
A large part of the problem is caused by the 'beautiful snowflake' mentality. Students have twisted the "You can do anything" mentality to "You can do anything, like attend college, even if you've been smoking piles of pot every day for the past 4 years." Over 80% of my graduating class is predicted to go to college. As I know my school, 80% of the students here do not deserve to go to college. Hell, I don't think 30% of the students here deserve to go to college.
Keep in mind that the educational institutions that accept this batch of unprepared students are also businesses. They have to cater to the needs of the students and thus offer inane courses that let them cast off the responsibility of attending college. Enter "Philosophy of the Simpsons"
You also fail to mention that Chernobyl will not happen unless incredible stupidity is present. The Russian engineers in charge of Chernobyl essentially shut down all of the safeguards in place to prevent a nuclear disaster (and there are dozens of these safeguards) in order to test the plant's backup generators, IIRC.
>Seems to me that the consensus here is that the patent system and courts worked just fine in this case.
Erm, are you posting under the wrong story or something?
The only reason that this issue is a hot-spot is because the patent system didn't work in the first place, by granting a patent on an invention already commonly in use (sending data on the up and down cycles of memory - in DDR-RAM).The patent system did not work and now the jury has spoken, invalidating the patent.
The courts (under the direction of a jury, mind you, not a judge with stock options:) worked to prevail over one of the many flaws in the patent system.
I don't care for your idealism.
I don't care for your skewed opinions.
I don't care for your need to spew flamebait.
I don't care for your idiotic rambling.
Most of all, if you respect me (the viewer) . . .
I assume by this statement that you are trying to represent the average viewer (and not being egotistical - thinking you're the sole viewer) - so let me be the first to say what a bunch of idealistic bullsh!t that is.
This is akin to saying personality is the biggest aphrodisiac. Ha!
Sure, it sounds good on paper, but face it: most people like to be dazzled. If a web designer is working for realistic (not idealistic) page views, he or she oftentimes wants to make the page visually appealing, to keep the user entertained. Most users, on average, give up on a site after 30 seconds or less - when they are surfing.
Unless someone is specifically looking for something on your site, they will be distracted by the other visually appealing sites. This means you're not a very good web designer.
Just because you want a return to 1992-like web graphics (IE. none), doesn't mean that everyone else does. All text and no fun makes the web a dull boy.
The web is not just about content. It's about expression, and a multitude of other things - maybe before you post, next time, take a second to take your head out of your ass and think about the position of others, before speaking for 'em.
Stop being hypocritical.
I can think of few things that are a bigger waste of bandwidth than your above post (pokemon, btw, being one of them)
Why you got moderated to 3, I don't know. My qualm is not with your views that pornography and pokemon are evil; those are just what they are - your views.
My qualm is that you would be one of the first people flaming anything slashdot called 'putting down free speech' when you yourself are 'putting down free speech' by calling for a national moratorium on porn, and get modded up.
In essence, you're a whore. Karma whore. Mod her down. It's not funny.
Hah. . . contradiction ahoy!
on
RIAA CEO Speaks
·
· Score: 1
Initially, I was going to read the whole piece. . . but it's hopeless, as early as the third paragraph there are contradictory statements like this:
"but rather one of defending the creative community's right to do with their craft and their property how they wish."
I have but one question
Dear Mr. CEO RIAA,
Explain how record labels owning the rights to the creative part of the "community" lets that creative part do what they wish with it.
From what I have read, artists like Courtney Love are stifled by the lack of options available to them, due to a monopoly on music. What the internet is doing is opening new avenues to the artists. . . via mp3's.
How are mp3's allowing less creative output and right than regulation and chop-shopping by the RIAA?
Jesus Christ, RAMBUS is the Microsoft of the RAM industry. Put your money on this one
Both have inferior shit as opposed to anything else out there - and both are trying to affect all of the computer industry.
But while Microsoft is doing it by establishing a monopoly, RAMBUS is actually using the court system to do it. . .
Choices is also what is going to keep unix around for a long time out of the limelight.
Unless you make a tweaked version that keeps everything from the users, most windows users will want to stay in their 'control panel' and attribute to MS's power.
I guess you could ironically say that we are all attributing to MS's power. . . we have the power to change linux, but we aren't providing a viable alternative to the home user.
Umm, just to get this straight: They expect people to read this in 52,001? That sounds like wishful thinking:
War is inevitable, as humans have demonstrated that we like to bash each other with clubs, swords, and nuclear warheads. Sure, one might say, direct nuclear conflict has been avoided for 50+ years now ! ! ! But think that for about 30 of the 50 years the cold war was (at its peak) threatening the total destruction of the human race. Even assuming that happens every 4 50 year spans (on average), that's 7500 years of threat.
Why was this even posted? It seems fairly obvious to me that this is a ridiculous idea. Microsoft is in a very precarious position right now - I don't know if you've read the news, but they are about to get broken up until further notice. Another thread on slashdot covered the very topic of this, and how microsoft might appeal, etc...
Trying to monopolize the console market like this, by taking away the advantages of each separate console manufacturer and putting it into their own hands would hardly help Microsoft establish its angelic look.
It's just another thorn in Microsoft's already bleeding foot. I think they would rather let it heal...
Slashdot Mirror
I am a firm believer that Origin/EA's decision to cancel UO2 was one of the poorest business/gaming decisions made, on par with Daikatana. Instead of supporting a game that parallels the graphical technology of other game, has a more robust combat system, and a far more modular engine, they decided to do updates to an outdated piece of junk.
And there was actually support for UO2! The fansite forums were crazy with thousands of rabid fans salivating over playing the game. In the newly emerging world of MMORPG's, this is the type of attitude a game company *wants* its customers to have. Compare this with the hype about a 3d graphics upgrade to UO. Hear that huge scream of enthusiasm from fans of a five year old game? No? I don't either. While I agree that there will be a set of die hard gamers that will stick to UO, like they do in other games (Hell, Meridian 59 is still running:)), in two or three years, the ramifications of Origin's poor decision will set in, and guess who is going to have the most market share... EQ, UO, or EQ2?
They could have had a majority of the market.. I could go on for hours about the awesome features they were going to put in, bla bla bla... Now what will they have.
You're being overly analytical with regards to Ballmer's comments. Ballmer is far from a walled up shy businessperson, and he would have no reservations about trying some light humor. The fact that his monologues are 'infamous' backs that up; he was probably kidding around with the comment about Xbox's greatness, perhaps playing on the constant hype Seamus and Co. tried to throw around.
In that it mimicked small text-based RPG's and actually developed a community that multiplied its attractiveness tenfold. To gain popularity, MMORPG's will have to tend to the player-centric mentality that is common in all video games... otherwise, the player becomes a useless extension of the world. This can be done one of two ways:
l
1. Create a close-knit community, with many fragmented servers and about 1000 people max per server. Allow some sort of mass communication to make it like a chat room, build a small enough world so that people are constantly interacting, and display the status of people often (x was killed by y, etc). Mass communication will develop the community, and cooperation will flourish as a result of this communication and a relatively small world. I play Meridian 59 to this day with hundreds of others... the close-knit community setting sets it apart from RPG's like Everquest and AC by offsetting the monotony of leveling.
2. Allow complete control of the game world... This would require a humongous dynamic world, in which players could construct and destroy everything as they saw fit. This would propel interaction to new heights but would require a *lot* of innovations about pretty much every aspect of MMORPG's... So I think that's a bit off.
Current RPG's often amount to little more than single player games with no plotline. Community *is* the driving force behind these games, and it needs to be incorporated as such, or MMORPG's will remain as level fests and not as games.
Any RPG's coming out that try to veer away from this formula? I know UO2 was going to innovate in several areas, but sadly Origin decided to wage war against UO2's huge fan base and dedicate efforts to revamp its aging UO franchise... Blah... The success they could have had with UO2... *sigh*
P.S.: Shameless plug: Meridian 59 link (it's alive again!), if anyone is interested: http://meridian59.neardeathstudios.com/index.shtm
Because as we all know our beloved United States of America would publish every gruesome detail about the deaths of its astronauts in testing, as it has been perfectly truthful and trustworthy in the past.
Blah, whether intentional or not... the wording of your post backs up my viewpoint.
Your juxtapositioning of his professional life (through the use of the word 'posterboy') and his personal life (porno watching) implies that his achievements should be viewed in light of his personal activities.
Just so you know that wasn't a completely unfounded irrational response;)
You ever get into a position of some power, and some jackass starts digging up crap from your early days. It doesn't matter, he wouldn't find anything 'naughty', because we know you, like all of us, are perfect. It's irrelevant whether one posts on slashdot, jacks off to porn, or whether he or she posts to alt.sex.fluffy-toys.barney in his or her free time. That's personal. Don't let personal interfere with professional. Perfect example that most slashdotters should be familiar with now: Nash. I could go around saying:
What was our posterboy doing in 1963? That's right, hanging around gay bars looking to satisfy his fetishes.
Who cares? The man's a genius. Let him do with his frickin' free time as he wishes. Not all succesful people have to be bereft of life, humor, or recklessness. Not all successful people are perfect. Some are. . . guess what, they're boring.
It would be interesting to set up a statistical test to compare the performance of two relatively large groups to determine if there is a significant increase in pong (or any game) playing skills when using a stimulant such as pain. Have any studies like this been performed?
Obviously, Pavlov's experiments with dogs come to mind, but the question is whether this recognition would significantly translate to digital skills, or would increase in skill be matched by non-pained individuals? Would degree of pain matter?
It would be interesting to note the threshold at which pain stops benefitting.
I think the RIAA is aware that it gets some boosted sales through increased exposure to music, however, their main target with new legislation isn't your generation, but, more importantly, future generations. Even though I don't agree with the means they are trying to pursue, they realize that they can not retain their iron grip over music and strong sales, as my generation will not pursue the same philosophies as yours. I constantly see these posts on slashdot, anecdotal experiences about purchasing music due to a p2p utility, but I don't see this sort of activity occuring among my peers.
Let me clarify: I'm a 17 year old in a fairly rich suburban high school region. . . Even in the face of prosperity, most of the kids involved in p2p sharing in our school are doing so without the intentions of ever buying a CD. Even though this is a well-off suburban region, most kids are fairly limited in money supply - when balancing movies, friends, and everyday food, music is the easiest to scratch off the list because it can be obtained from p2p. As we get more and more accustomed to the idea of downloading music for free, buying music may become foreign to us, thereby locking off a large market segment for the RIAA.
In the past two years, even though I have downloaded over 3000 songs, I have not purchased a single CD. In fact, the mentality I have described has pervaded me that I do not think I will ever buy a CD. Rinse and repeat for most of my classmates, for whom piracy of music has become so commonplace that they ask why they should spend their hard earned money when they can just download for free.
Granted, the RIAA should embrace this changing market as opposed to rough-handing the changing market to its own needs. However, I do not think that the argument of a net benefit from the piracy of music will hold weight for much longer.
Ga'h! It's aCquires! a**C**quires! ! ! !
Heh, how does the Linux/Geek world look when one of its largest internet hubs misspells something incredibly simple like acquires? Grarr!
:*(
>>>Sigh. And what's the point in that when the purpose of the games is to help you to spend some time away from the reality!?
Niet!
Uhh, the point is that in reality you can't plant C4 explosives under skyscrapers and watch them crumble, you can't engage in high speed police chases/gunfights, nor can you screw your favorite three supermodels at the same time (Unless your name is Cowboyneal. . . let me check. . . no, it isn't;). Real life graphics would immerse you more in this world rather than remind you of reality.
Wow. They'll get a 1% drop in sales. Whoop-dee-doo. Sorry, you're not being realistic. Even if all slashdotters boycotted Blizzard games, it wouldn't make a difference. And all Slashdotters won't boycott blizzard games, because Blizzard games are some of the best games on the market. So be realistic. . with boycotting, start smaller, or at least don't rally everyone against something they won't affect.
.02
Fool!
Not Civilization. . . Meier already made a game for these people: Alpha Centauri.
A large part of the problem is caused by the 'beautiful snowflake' mentality. Students have twisted the "You can do anything" mentality to "You can do anything, like attend college, even if you've been smoking piles of pot every day for the past 4 years." Over 80% of my graduating class is predicted to go to college. As I know my school, 80% of the students here do not deserve to go to college. Hell, I don't think 30% of the students here deserve to go to college.
Keep in mind that the educational institutions that accept this batch of unprepared students are also businesses. They have to cater to the needs of the students and thus offer inane courses that let them cast off the responsibility of attending college. Enter "Philosophy of the Simpsons"
You also fail to mention that Chernobyl will not happen unless incredible stupidity is present. The Russian engineers in charge of Chernobyl essentially shut down all of the safeguards in place to prevent a nuclear disaster (and there are dozens of these safeguards) in order to test the plant's backup generators, IIRC.
If anyone is interested in more information about civ 3, two of the best sites are:
http://www.apolyton.net/civ3/
http://www.civfanatics.com
>Seems to me that the consensus here is that the patent system and courts worked just fine in this case. Erm, are you posting under the wrong story or something? The only reason that this issue is a hot-spot is because the patent system didn't work in the first place, by granting a patent on an invention already commonly in use (sending data on the up and down cycles of memory - in DDR-RAM).The patent system did not work and now the jury has spoken, invalidating the patent. The courts (under the direction of a jury, mind you, not a judge with stock options:) worked to prevail over one of the many flaws in the patent system.
I don't care. . .
I don't care for your idealism.
I don't care for your skewed opinions.
I don't care for your need to spew flamebait.
I don't care for your idiotic rambling.
Most of all, if you respect me (the viewer) . . .
I assume by this statement that you are trying to represent the average viewer (and not being egotistical - thinking you're the sole viewer) - so let me be the first to say what a bunch of idealistic bullsh!t that is.
This is akin to saying personality is the biggest aphrodisiac. Ha!
Sure, it sounds good on paper, but face it: most people like to be dazzled. If a web designer is working for realistic (not idealistic) page views, he or she oftentimes wants to make the page visually appealing, to keep the user entertained. Most users, on average, give up on a site after 30 seconds or less - when they are surfing.
Unless someone is specifically looking for something on your site, they will be distracted by the other visually appealing sites. This means you're not a very good web designer.
Just because you want a return to 1992-like web graphics (IE. none), doesn't mean that everyone else does. All text and no fun makes the web a dull boy.
The web is not just about content. It's about expression, and a multitude of other things - maybe before you post, next time, take a second to take your head out of your ass and think about the position of others, before speaking for 'em.
Somehow, the phrase "Drop em or I'll give you a 6 pack!" doesn't sound so threatening. . .
End if your wandering, thees will bi tha onlee messag noot to mek fon of CmdrTaco.
Stop being hypocritical. I can think of few things that are a bigger waste of bandwidth than your above post (pokemon, btw, being one of them) Why you got moderated to 3, I don't know. My qualm is not with your views that pornography and pokemon are evil; those are just what they are - your views. My qualm is that you would be one of the first people flaming anything slashdot called 'putting down free speech' when you yourself are 'putting down free speech' by calling for a national moratorium on porn, and get modded up. In essence, you're a whore. Karma whore. Mod her down. It's not funny.
Initially, I was going to read the whole piece. . . but it's hopeless, as early as the third paragraph there are contradictory statements like this:
"but rather one of defending the creative community's right to do with their craft and their property how they wish."
I have but one question
Dear Mr. CEO RIAA,
Explain how record labels owning the rights to the creative part of the "community" lets that creative part do what they wish with it.
From what I have read, artists like Courtney Love are stifled by the lack of options available to them, due to a monopoly on music. What the internet is doing is opening new avenues to the artists. . . via mp3's.
How are mp3's allowing less creative output and right than regulation and chop-shopping by the RIAA?
Jesus Christ, RAMBUS is the Microsoft of the RAM industry. Put your money on this one Both have inferior shit as opposed to anything else out there - and both are trying to affect all of the computer industry. But while Microsoft is doing it by establishing a monopoly, RAMBUS is actually using the court system to do it. . .
Choices is also what is going to keep unix around for a long time out of the limelight. Unless you make a tweaked version that keeps everything from the users, most windows users will want to stay in their 'control panel' and attribute to MS's power. I guess you could ironically say that we are all attributing to MS's power. . . we have the power to change linux, but we aren't providing a viable alternative to the home user.
Hemos, damnit. Reading the actual story is more important to your web site than reading about bestiality for jerk off material.
If you can't make up more than two lines about the interview, then it's obviously not worthy to be featured on Slashdot.
That's my opinion. Flame me!
Umm, just to get this straight: They expect people to read this in 52,001? That sounds like wishful thinking: War is inevitable, as humans have demonstrated that we like to bash each other with clubs, swords, and nuclear warheads. Sure, one might say, direct nuclear conflict has been avoided for 50+ years now ! ! ! But think that for about 30 of the 50 years the cold war was (at its peak) threatening the total destruction of the human race. Even assuming that happens every 4 50 year spans (on average), that's 7500 years of threat.
Why was this even posted? It seems fairly obvious to me that this is a ridiculous idea. Microsoft is in a very precarious position right now - I don't know if you've read the news, but they are about to get broken up until further notice. Another thread on slashdot covered the very topic of this, and how microsoft might appeal, etc...
Trying to monopolize the console market like this, by taking away the advantages of each separate console manufacturer and putting it into their own hands would hardly help Microsoft establish its angelic look.
It's just another thorn in Microsoft's already bleeding foot. I think they would rather let it heal...