Their point seems to be that casual gamers don't read reviews, and therefore bad reviews don't matter.
But the reality is far more serious (and dangerous) to the entire industry: casual-gaming customers who don't read reveiws and buy bad games, are disappointed and may stop buying games altogether.
So EA's dismissive nature of reviewers is representative of a dangerous mindset which will ultimately harm the entire industry.
What's so different about gaming? Gaming is always being pointed at while television, film, novels, comics, music, art all deal with exactly the same issues -- often more intensely and graphically. Why must gaming defend itself?
Gaming mimics culture and other forms of media & entertainment.
If you have a problem with gaming you have a problem with the world.
"Rate of Growth" is one of the most commonly "spun" statistics.
For example: If I sell 1 widget last month, and then I sell 10 widgets this month I can make the claim that I have a 1000% month-over-month growth rate. Not only that, I have a "faster rate of growth" than every other major widget manufacturer/retailer.
Obviously, rate of growth is clearly only a meaningful statistic when presented alongside comparative volumes.
Is it just me, or is the term "Black Friday" being used much more this year than in previous years? Maybe I'm the only clueless one, but I was seeing it so much I Wiki'd it for a little explanation: the root of the term (and if this is well known to all, my apologies... I'm slow that way) is that the balance sheets of retailers are typically "in the black" by the Friday following Thanksgiving.
I can't help thinking it sounds more like a stock market crash than a "good thing".
This isn't a troll per se, but I can't help thinking that BioWare has only gotten worse over the years.
IMHO all their cred comes from Baldur's Gate II. And that cred is well deserved. BG2 is still (imho) one of the best games (let alone best RPG's) ever made.
Neverwinter Nights OTOH, never made anyone's top 10 list. And KOTOR was fun, but the criticisms of "too easy", "too boring", "too limited" were all too frequent to make it a real contender for longevity -- although I did enjoy the hell out of it.
I have high hopes for Mass Effect -- but I can't say that I'm a fan of BioWare's evolution. To me they'll always be the guys that made some beyond-perfect AD&D games a few years back. Since then they've pushed out in new directions that may have scored big points with the console crowd -- but haven't really impressed the hardcore gaming set.
Is that your Oblivion save-game file and my Oblivion save-game file are probably pretty similar.
It's not like Morrowind where there were dozens upon dozens of faction combinations, and things *actually* worth stealing. (We could have a whole conversation about what the point of being a thief is in a world full of 'levelled loot' and hilariously powerful 'unlock spells', but that's another post). In Oblivion there really aren't all that many ways you can play it. And the differences between the character types are amazingly minimal. (Argonians can now wear boots! And they can still breathe underwater, but who cares when there's nothing underwater anyway?). Oblivion has 4 guilds, and one main plotline. For all the illusion of 'uniqueness', your character probably isn't.
We must protect our lifeless, uninhabitable and toxic environments from our waste and pollution, lest they become er... lifeless, toxic and uh.. uninabitable... oh never mind.
The onus of protecting rights should be on the holder of the rights.
The strategy of patent holders must not be to "lay dormant" allowing numerous companies to infringe for a decade, and then when the market reaches critical mass, appear from the shadows with lawsuits.
We've all seen this happen before of course, but in other areas of intellectual property, (Trademarks for example) it is the responsibility to prevent the mark from becoming 'commonly used'. Once it does, a trademark holder can lose the rights to the mark. There are many famous examples of this.
Psh. I see... you're a man of the people now. You're for saving the banks first, because of the everyday people who work there. Nice try at a save.
And if you think people in Argentina could make wire transfers you're just plain uneducated.
And no, I'm not confusing macro and microeconomics. We all live in a world of fractional reserve banking and when you talk about "bank failure", you're talking about the whole shebang -- but that's probably flying past your head sonny because you're a genius and you've already passed judgments on everything under the sun. I happen to have lived in Cameroon during the "bank failure" and you couldn't make an bank withdrawal... make a phone call... nor could the government sell its debt. Run along and split those hairs now just to make sure you're not "confusing the banking system and society".
And no I'm not making assumptions. You definitely, 100% abslolutely, positively live in America.
When the shit hits the fan, your country will ABSOLUTELY, 100% POSITIVELY save the banks before the people. Just like they're doing right now, by debasing your currency to save the likes of Bear Stearns, Goldman and Merril Lynch and a whole host of foreign central banks that bought into the lies of YOUR banks who lied to them by selling them pure toxic shit wrapped up in sexy little derivatives. Let's not speculate, let's look purely at fact: Your banking system is currently in danger and the "save" has been to increase your money supply (thereby decreasing the value of the salaries and savings of every man and woman in your country). So in the banks vs. society equation, you already have a winner. And guess what, it wasn't you sonny.
And as your government creates hyperinflation (which in case you didn't know sonny, is just a form of invisibly taxing the people) you'll be waving pom poms and cheering along the whole time because your "society" is safe from the horrors of a bank default. LOLz. Thank god the world has smart little citizens like you who know all about the banking system.
But what do I know I'm a liberal retard who uses Linux and lives in the middle of nowhere.
Lighten up sonny. You're making generalizations and sounding like an ass.
Firstly -- the protections for civilians are grossly lacking. My point (which I was making in a humourous way, and you responded to like the worst kind of shrieking little manboy) is that civilian protection in terms of medical reserves DOES outweigh the importance of the banking system. And yes, I would rather be pushing a wheelbarrow around and have everyone vaccinated, than have a working ATM and 100 million dead.
Secondly, there's a difference between the "banking system" and the "society". A collapse of the banking system would not create social collapse. Argentina had a banking collapse, and they got through it. I'd rather live through an Argentinian style crisis than a "Hot Zone". Priorities sonny. Priorities.
Oh and as for your mighty little banking system, I'm not the one spending US dollars that have lost 35% of their value over the last 6 years, but you probably are -- so I suggest you go and make some purple DVD's full of Ubuntu, you can probably sell them in a healthy economy overseas.
Shriek on little neo con. Save the banks. And don't look to closely, because they're not saving you.
Slashdot Mirror
"The caveat is that you have to let them monitor your use of the program"
So they'll monitor my activities when I sell it on eBay?
...and many are immensely profitable ones.
If you'll pay to take the class, they'll offer it. There's not much mystery there.
Their point seems to be that casual gamers don't read reviews, and therefore bad reviews don't matter.
But the reality is far more serious (and dangerous) to the entire industry: casual-gaming customers who don't read reveiws and buy bad games, are disappointed and may stop buying games altogether.
So EA's dismissive nature of reviewers is representative of a dangerous mindset which will ultimately harm the entire industry.
...is "Talisman" on XBL coming out?
Everything else is secondary for us board game geeks.
I can't remember anyone asking *me* to donate. WTF?
Like I'm not important or something?
What's so different about gaming? Gaming is always being pointed at while television, film, novels, comics, music, art all deal with exactly the same issues -- often more intensely and graphically. Why must gaming defend itself?
Gaming mimics culture and other forms of media & entertainment.
If you have a problem with gaming you have a problem with the world.
"Sales Outpacing" = rate of growth
"Rate of Growth" is one of the most commonly "spun" statistics.
For example: If I sell 1 widget last month, and then I sell 10 widgets this month I can make the claim that I have a 1000% month-over-month growth rate. Not only that, I have a "faster rate of growth" than every other major widget manufacturer/retailer.
Obviously, rate of growth is clearly only a meaningful statistic when presented alongside comparative volumes.
Isn't the most environmentally friendly thing you can possibly do
"stay home and turn the lights out"?
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that kids who get driven to soccer pratice are *worse* for the environment.
I thought I issued a company-wide memo about NASA employees surfing Slashdot during work-hours.
Please come down to my office right away.
Not according to timetables.
Ok.. so it's not that simple. But we can dream.
...being a starving writer wasn't bad enough?
...welcome our new geological overlords.
Does anyone even understand copyright on fonts?
... hasty skimming is always a bad idea.
Yeap. You're right.
Is it just me, or is the term "Black Friday" being used much more this year than in previous years? Maybe I'm the only clueless one, but I was seeing it so much I Wiki'd it for a little explanation: the root of the term (and if this is well known to all, my apologies... I'm slow that way) is that the balance sheets of retailers are typically "in the black" by the Friday following Thanksgiving.
I can't help thinking it sounds more like a stock market crash than a "good thing".
This isn't a troll per se, but I can't help thinking that BioWare has only gotten worse over the years.
IMHO all their cred comes from Baldur's Gate II. And that cred is well deserved. BG2 is still (imho) one of the best games (let alone best RPG's) ever made.
Neverwinter Nights OTOH, never made anyone's top 10 list. And KOTOR was fun, but the criticisms of "too easy", "too boring", "too limited" were all too frequent to make it a real contender for longevity -- although I did enjoy the hell out of it.
I have high hopes for Mass Effect -- but I can't say that I'm a fan of BioWare's evolution. To me they'll always be the guys that made some beyond-perfect AD&D games a few years back. Since then they've pushed out in new directions that may have scored big points with the console crowd -- but haven't really impressed the hardcore gaming set.
This isn't meant as a troll... The shots are indeed beautiful.
But I was a little disappointed by the categorization of "HD"
Those seemed like pretty 'standard def' to me...
Are there higher res shots somewhere else?
Who said anything about AI? I just said get the human out of the cockpit.
Is that your Oblivion save-game file and my Oblivion save-game file are probably pretty similar.
It's not like Morrowind where there were dozens upon dozens of faction combinations, and things *actually* worth stealing. (We could have a whole conversation about what the point of being a thief is in a world full of 'levelled loot' and hilariously powerful 'unlock spells', but that's another post). In Oblivion there really aren't all that many ways you can play it. And the differences between the character types are amazingly minimal. (Argonians can now wear boots! And they can still breathe underwater, but who cares when there's nothing underwater anyway?). Oblivion has 4 guilds, and one main plotline. For all the illusion of 'uniqueness', your character probably isn't.
The weak link in this weapon is the human. Get him/her out of the plane altogether.
We must protect our lifeless, uninhabitable and toxic environments from our waste and pollution, lest they become er... lifeless, toxic and uh.. uninabitable... oh never mind.
If I were the judge I would throw this case out.
The onus of protecting rights should be on the holder of the rights.
The strategy of patent holders must not be to "lay dormant" allowing numerous companies to infringe for a decade, and then when the market reaches critical mass, appear from the shadows with lawsuits.
We've all seen this happen before of course, but in other areas of intellectual property, (Trademarks for example) it is the responsibility to prevent the mark from becoming 'commonly used'. Once it does, a trademark holder can lose the rights to the mark. There are many famous examples of this.
Psh.
I see... you're a man of the people now. You're for saving the banks first, because of the everyday people who work there. Nice try at a save.
And if you think people in Argentina could make wire transfers you're just plain uneducated.
And no, I'm not confusing macro and microeconomics. We all live in a world of fractional reserve banking and when you talk about "bank failure", you're talking about the whole shebang -- but that's probably flying past your head sonny because you're a genius and you've already passed judgments on everything under the sun. I happen to have lived in Cameroon during the "bank failure" and you couldn't make an bank withdrawal... make a phone call... nor could the government sell its debt. Run along and split those hairs now just to make sure you're not "confusing the banking system and society".
And no I'm not making assumptions. You definitely, 100% abslolutely, positively live in America.
When the shit hits the fan, your country will ABSOLUTELY, 100% POSITIVELY save the banks before the people. Just like they're doing right now, by debasing your currency to save the likes of Bear Stearns, Goldman and Merril Lynch and a whole host of foreign central banks that bought into the lies of YOUR banks who lied to them by selling them pure toxic shit wrapped up in sexy little derivatives. Let's not speculate, let's look purely at fact: Your banking system is currently in danger and the "save" has been to increase your money supply (thereby decreasing the value of the salaries and savings of every man and woman in your country). So in the banks vs. society equation, you already have a winner. And guess what, it wasn't you sonny.
And as your government creates hyperinflation (which in case you didn't know sonny, is just a form of invisibly taxing the people) you'll be waving pom poms and cheering along the whole time because your "society" is safe from the horrors of a bank default. LOLz. Thank god the world has smart little citizens like you who know all about the banking system.
But what do I know I'm a liberal retard who uses Linux and lives in the middle of nowhere.
Lighten up sonny. You're making generalizations and sounding like an ass.
Firstly -- the protections for civilians are grossly lacking. My point (which I was making in a humourous way, and you responded to like the worst kind of shrieking little manboy) is that civilian protection in terms of medical reserves DOES outweigh the importance of the banking system. And yes, I would rather be pushing a wheelbarrow around and have everyone vaccinated, than have a working ATM and 100 million dead.
Secondly, there's a difference between the "banking system" and the "society". A collapse of the banking system would not create social collapse. Argentina had a banking collapse, and they got through it. I'd rather live through an Argentinian style crisis than a "Hot Zone". Priorities sonny. Priorities.
Oh and as for your mighty little banking system, I'm not the one spending US dollars that have lost 35% of their value over the last 6 years, but you probably are -- so I suggest you go and make some purple DVD's full of Ubuntu, you can probably sell them in a healthy economy overseas.
Shriek on little neo con. Save the banks. And don't look to closely, because they're not saving you.