I think the GP is implying that he doesn't have worry about things LIKE this. That's kinda what I was getting at. Not just that I don't have to fear malware on my new hard drives (since when do they come preformatted anyway? I always have to format mine...) but I can do things like click on links on the web without thinking "oh, I wonder if it's going to try and corrupt my system", knowing that even if it was, the chances are it'd be able to compromise a Firefox+Ubuntu are slim indeed. I know that this is mostly due to the fact that even as popular a Linux-based OS as Ubuntu is a tiny blip on the effort/reward radar for malware authors, but that isn't going to stop me being smug about it.:)
You can't fit great optics in the size of a typical mobile phone, so the camera is a toy. False dichotomy, sorry. The camera in my phone has tiny optics, matched to a 2MP CCD, and creates noticeably worse images than my 5MP standalone camera. However, my phone is always on me, has very low form factor, and 99% of the time the images I can take with it are just as useful as if I'd taken my much bulkier camera with me as well. I wouldn't publish them in a magazine, say, but for looking through weekend snaps on my computer, my phone is just as good and, as it's always on me, is a clear winner in terms of practicality.
But, when they get too close to reality, then we start judging by realistic standards, and then they are interpreted not as a representation of X, but as X with something really wrong with them. This is a perfect description of the uncanny valley. Skeptics of the theory argue all you want, but I sure know there's a reason that I found the characters in Toy Story cute, but Stewart Little was really, really creepy.
Although not playing WoW is waaaay more expensive than the $15 a month I was paying. Since I quit a month ago I've spent well over $200 on Wii and PC games:( Before I started playing WoW I was spending $80-$100 a weekend on drinks while out clubbing. That dropped to $30-$40 a week for rum and coke, plus $5 a week for my subscription... massive win in terms of savings. Less contact with the ladies though...:P
And as far as sexrobots are concerned, men are willing to jump onto a $29.95 silicone ass with painted pubic hair just as easily. It need not to be intelligent. I haven't looked at the realdoll website for a long while (and can't since I'm at work now) so they may be past this stage but... With a few basic sensors (accelerometer to measure which way up the torso is, joint angle sensors, pressure sensors on key points like hands/knees/elbows/stomach/back, etc) it should be easy enough to program a bot with a few different positions, then make it respond suitably in terms of small body movements and vocalizations. An interesting project...;)
After running around feeling like my character waded in concrete for the first five minutes if gameplay, my goal was to get to 40 so I could get a mount. You rolled a cow, didn't you? They always feel like they're walking on the moon, because Blizzard decided that all characters walk at the same speed regardless of cosmetic size. Try a gnome, you feel like you're zipping along... also like you're a shortass.:/ Sounds like WoW just wasn't your style, though... that's OK, I've always hated FPS games.:P
Bring back the wild west. Bring back the buggy, unforseen, wild, insulting, violent mess that was Ultima Online back in the early years. The most awesome moments I ever had in WoW were unintended by the devs. I think the best ever was when someone in the AH set off a hunter's pet with Geddon's bomb debuff on it. A huge bang and instantly the AH was full of about 50 corpses... my mage was owned by the blast but it was still awesome.
Excellent and well-thought-out post. Not many people understand the reason for the apparent 'dead space' of time-consuming tasks in WoW (and MMOs in general). I do think that there are so many things to do in WoW now that some of the grinds can be toned down (an example is the reputation required to run heroic dungeons, which is stupid - if I have good enough gear to complete the heroic version of the dungeon, why should I have to run the non-heroic version twenty times? Thank god they've decided to change that.)
Overall, however, the more time is required to obtain an item or whatever, the more value it holds for the players. A good example is the epic gear from the recent Headless Horseman halloween encounter - sure it's epic, and the gear is good quality for a non-raider, but it was piss easy to get so it carries no prestige. I'd have loved to be able to grind for Grand Marshall back when doing so meant something, even if the gear IS now totally outdated, because the rank is an achievement in itself. Of course, real life intervened and I ended up wandering around Thailand instead...;)
I think I've got some sort of co-ordination problem - while the other player is leaping around like a rabbit on speed and hitting me with well synchronised de-buffs, spells and all sorts of unholy damage, I'm trying to attack them and hit my little buff button while not looking away from the screen (or I'll probably die). Keybind everything, EVERYTHING that you use in combat. Turn your character with the mouse, just hold the right mouse button down almost permanently and look around as you would in an FPS (except zoomed out as far as you can). Also remember that most of the people you fight probably play 5-10 hours a night and have done so for months. Most of it is automated to the muscle memory stage, leaving their conscious minds to make strategic decisions.
But the main thing, which you nailed in your last sentence, is that you're having fun. Which, of course, is the whole point of playing games, and one that many people forget.
Warriors getting buffed again (no, Mace nerf is not meaningful. Intercept buff is.) so Kalgan can rock his Season 3's. You do realise that the changes (change to disarm immunity aside, which is a pain, and the minor mace spec nerf) make ZERO difference to PvP spec warriors? All they do is nerf fury warriors' burst damage, slightly up their sustained damage and threat reduction, and make it nearly impossible to set up a worthwhile PvP/PvE hybrid build.
It sounds from your post like you got butthurt by a well geared warrior. Try taking on a warlock that can drain heal 500 hp/sec, has 12k health and can chew through that warrior's HP in no time, WHILE keeping one or two other players crowd controlled. WoW isn't balanced around solo or small scale PvP... which is why they give out the best PvP gear according to small scale PvP performance. Right?
I can't comment on the rates of gun ownership vs. crime, but that's certainly a compelling anecdote. It brings to mind one of Heinlein's tenets; "An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life."
[...] dont penetrate as far [...] you don't need to worry about it's orientation. When talking about having a probe inside one's body, I think the orientation is somewhat significant.
I'm all for tolerance and each to their own, but I don't want no gay probe in MY body!:P
See? Picking up hitch-hikers is a way to meet some really interesting people!;) I always used to do that, then scare the hell out of them by driving fast while saying things like "sure beats walkin', eh?";)
Why would we want to go through the whole slave thing again? Because a slave-based society is the most comfortable, enjoyable and luxurious existence we've so far contrived... for the slave owners. The only downside is the moral problem of subjugating an entire slave class. If we can build the slaves to fit their role, that will allow us to have the lifestyle without the moral issues or the risk of rebellion.
Physical attractiveness is, to a great extent, determined by what we think is most viable. Excellent point. In subsistence cultures, fat jubbly women show ability to feed and care for children. In cultures where obtaining as much food as one can eat hasn't been a problem in a few generations, standards tend to shift towards a fit, toned physique. I have no idea why models today are so skinny, they look horrible to me. Maybe being a stick insect is 'glamorous' but definitely not attractive. I don't want a partner with the figure of a 9-year-old boy. >.< The second link for 'pleasantly curvaceous' is what I'd call a perfect figure, in fact is not far off my fiancee's.;)
It's worth noting that all of the above (excepting the thankfully unillustrated 'downright obese' category) have high hip-to-waist ratios regardless of size. This has been shown to be both the most culture-invariant predictor of physical attractiveness and a good indicator of fecundity.
Hmm... I guess we live in somewhat different demographics, or maybe I'm just being unrealistic - admittedly not many of my friends have kids yet.:P
I'd guess she'd only stay home for the first few years, once the kids are going to school she'll probably start working again. If not, well, we both play WoW... She can farm us gold!;)
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"Any sufficiently cool technology is indistinguishable from Magic Missile IV". ;)
Mobiles and newer smarter phones (digital cordless ones, for instance) do. Older phones and those generic Telstra handsets don't have them, though.
No-one writes jokes in base 13!! ...erm, I mean 9.
I think it's because Borat showed everyone it was totally funny not.
...that I'm really glad I switched to Linux. :)
Excellent and well-thought-out post. Not many people understand the reason for the apparent 'dead space' of time-consuming tasks in WoW (and MMOs in general). I do think that there are so many things to do in WoW now that some of the grinds can be toned down (an example is the reputation required to run heroic dungeons, which is stupid - if I have good enough gear to complete the heroic version of the dungeon, why should I have to run the non-heroic version twenty times? Thank god they've decided to change that.)
;)
Overall, however, the more time is required to obtain an item or whatever, the more value it holds for the players. A good example is the epic gear from the recent Headless Horseman halloween encounter - sure it's epic, and the gear is good quality for a non-raider, but it was piss easy to get so it carries no prestige. I'd have loved to be able to grind for Grand Marshall back when doing so meant something, even if the gear IS now totally outdated, because the rank is an achievement in itself. Of course, real life intervened and I ended up wandering around Thailand instead...
Anyway, modpoints2usir~!
But the main thing, which you nailed in your last sentence, is that you're having fun. Which, of course, is the whole point of playing games, and one that many people forget.
Most of the people I know who play have quit WoW. Some of them several times... They always come crawling back. :P
It sounds from your post like you got butthurt by a well geared warrior. Try taking on a warlock that can drain heal 500 hp/sec, has 12k health and can chew through that warrior's HP in no time, WHILE keeping one or two other players crowd controlled. WoW isn't balanced around solo or small scale PvP... which is why they give out the best PvP gear according to small scale PvP performance. Right?
Aneurysm: n. - the result of reading your post.
I can't comment on the rates of gun ownership vs. crime, but that's certainly a compelling anecdote. It brings to mind one of Heinlein's tenets; "An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life."
I'm all for tolerance and each to their own, but I don't want no gay probe in MY body!
See? Picking up hitch-hikers is a way to meet some really interesting people! ;) I always used to do that, then scare the hell out of them by driving fast while saying things like "sure beats walkin', eh?" ;)
I used to be a real raider. Then I got a girlfriend, and she borrowed one of my monitors. :P
Players one and two
We think you will like to play
With your two players
It's worth noting that all of the above (excepting the thankfully unillustrated 'downright obese' category) have high hip-to-waist ratios regardless of size. This has been shown to be both the most culture-invariant predictor of physical attractiveness and a good indicator of fecundity.
Hmm... I guess we live in somewhat different demographics, or maybe I'm just being unrealistic - admittedly not many of my friends have kids yet. :P
;)
I'd guess she'd only stay home for the first few years, once the kids are going to school she'll probably start working again. If not, well, we both play WoW... She can farm us gold!