well, asshol'y coward, learn to read. Steam will or will not let me switch to offline mode, depending on the position of the moon. THAT is the hole point. it's a crappy DRM scheme, and you're an idiot.
hmm... if that was a troll post, then you're a pure fanboy.
Point in case : I was looking for a gift for my niece's birthday and wanted to ask her if she would like Left 4 Dead. It took me 3 days to download my copy from steam by the way (despite a 5mb/s connection which is the best i can get where I am, but was still faster and cheaper than to have a physical disk shipped to my place). So I called her to my place, disconnected from the intertube and fired up L4D. "updating steam client..." and then after 5mn or so "couldn't connect to steam. You have to connect to steam first to play offline" ( The phrasing might have been different but that was the gist).
I sent my niece home, and told her I'd call her as soon as I could start the game, reconnected the lan, started steam. got the message "updating steam client" (took ~only~ 10mn). Tried to start L4D... "downloading patch. est. time : 3 hours". When the game was finally patched, I started it, it worked, called my niece, went offline as I can't really play online due to my ping of at least 200ms, and I prefer to have windows as offline as possible. My niece cam, I started Left4Dead... "couldn't connect to steam. You have to connect to steam first to play offline".
just for the sake of it, I tried a few other steam games, and about half of them told me the same, despite the fact that I already played them all at one point or the other, which should, dixit steam, be enough to be able to play offline.
Services like Steam can be convenient (and if you're not paying in Euros, it can be cheap, as I found out yesterday when Steam told me that I'm now in Germany and not in South America anymore, and so must pay 19.99 euros instead of 19.99$ for a game, even if I am just visiting), but their DRM scheme is complete and utter shit. The net result is that I might still buy games if they are really really good, but I sure as hell will play a pirated copy if I can find one that isn't virus ridden. The only online game retailer I often find myself buying games from lately is Good Old Games : DRM free, consistent prices and http downloads! THAT is service. (no, I'm not affiliated and I'm not getting any percentage. I'm just a very happy regular customer)
funny how stories tend to come in packs. The Movie "Unthinkable" was ranked #3 at IMDB prior to the release of the DVD/BR (it was a straight to video release). The producer ended up asking on the IMDB forums the people who had rated it where they got it from and about ideas on how to make things fairer for both sides.
As someone who saw it ~early~ too, I can only urge you to watch it (if possible through a legal rental or by buying the DVD or BR... it IS worth it), as it is a really interesting movie. I wonder whether this and TFS are linked somehow.
I thought that was the point Fallout3... Something about "politicians are evil robots and only weird radio jocks with stupid names should be trusted", along with "if you can loot it and you don't get shot then it's yours" and "shoot first, check to see if it was a mutant later". Damn.. I learned so much from that game...
okay, said like that it actually makes sense. Not that I would personally opt in, but if people really feel the noodly appendage pony raping is something they want and it's not something they are tricked into using, why not?!
thanks for the clarification
No. It hasn't. Basically, It has been avoided through FUD. "Lag you experience can be caused by your peripherals" isn't even remotely an answer to "how big is the lag caused by your technology?"
What could have been considered an answer would have been something along the lines of "We measured an average 100-150ms lag when playing at 1680x1050 over a good connection 2 hops away", not "we won't say, because your mouse might cause lag too"
sigh... I forgot the most important bit of course. The line stating that forfeiting the ads would be to forfeit the wonderfull new and particularly advanced features of the new printer.
Yep, but it really depends on how easy it is opt out for someone who thinks that the harddrive is the big box sitting on his desk (which happens to describe a LOT of people somehow). Knowing marketing people, I envision the process to be something like that...
Initializing Printer...
This is your first time. Please answer a few question to setup your new printer correctly...
What is your full name?... Martha Grannyapple
What is your phone number?... 01234987654
Are you behind a Firewall If you don't know the answer, press Y... Y
Enable HP IntelliAd Professional (tm)? If you don't know the answer, press Y... ?
If you don't know the answer, press Y. Enable HP IntelliAd Professional (tm)?... H
If you don't know the answer, press Y. Enable HP IntelliAd Professional (tm)?... Y
Processing...
Thank you for enabling HP IntelliAd Professional (tm).
You can easily disable HP IntelliAd Professional (tm) by unchecking the 4rth option from the top in the MAIN->CONFIGURATION->INTERNET->SERVICES->INTELLIAD->SUBSCRIPTION->CONTROLS->OMGPONIES->NOODLYAPPENDAGE->ENABLE menu.
Processing...
Please choose now which daily content should be used to fill the blanks between the ads...
without any attempt at trolling or flamebaiting, they could also ask for a modern OS which can be installed on most computers the kids might have, even if it is outdated or from Apple, and which comes with no additional costs nothing.
What exists when people forget Newton's first law is a Darwin Award contender (possibly with a posthume leading role in the next anti-drug campaign movie).
because he has to have driving lessons and pass a test to use a car, whereas he can go to the next wallmart and buy the shiniest thingy he allows a salesperson to sell him without even having ever touched a mouse, let alone a keyboard, in his life maybe?!
And no.. it doesn't matter whether it's OSX, Windows or some Linux WM : most people shut down their half their brains and ban any tiniest impulse of curiosity when confronted with a computer for the first time, and fail to change that over time. A good indicator is the "I had an error.my computer is broken" "what did the error say?" "I don't know, I just clicked OK" syndrom.
I guess this is mostly due to the way computers are sold as being "really simple to use" and machines which "will unleash your creativity and make your life just easy". That's just not true. Computers are very complex machines, no matter how glossy the icons on the desktop are. They are prone to problems (exactly like cars), and if you don't know what you're doing, in the best case, nothing will happen (which is generally interpreted by users as "it doesn't work. my computer is broken") or weird stuff happens ("my icons disappeared! I didn't do anything!" [subtext : I clicked some buttons and pressed some shit without reading the messages that popped up and I can't even remember WHAT I did]
It's not that people are dumb, it's just that they don't actually KNOW what a computer is, in terms of what it can or can't do, or how it is correctly operated. And I don't see that chaning anytime soon.
just to get back to your car analogy : put someone who never drove a car in the drivers seat and tell him to start the car, and drive around the block... please don't forget to put the video on youtube afterward. it should be a hit... literally.
Which is probably why Reuters, which asked for it under the Freedom of Information Act, couldn't get this video until it was leaked. They just lacked the connection to a congresscritter.
weird. Penumbra worked very well for me (linux too) and I never experienced crashes nor failing functionality.
Lugaru was a turnoff at first. once I understood the controls, it was became a great game. Never had any framerate problems neither (pretty constant subjective >50 fps with an old nvidia8800 at 1680x1050, everything on), but well... YMMV
People worked hard on those games, and they deliver some very unusual gameplay with some really nice eye candy (Lugaru doesn't really fall in the eye candy department, but its strength is in the content). I finished Goo, I nearly finished Aquaria (still got the endboss to beat), working hard to beat some wolves in Lugaru, and I finished the first Penumbra. Gish is fun and quite innovative, but the save system is incredibly frustrating.
Most AAA titles can't hold my attention that long, mostly because they sacrifice ingenuity for pure bling visuals and run-of-the-mill content. That really gets boring fast. So, IMO, all of the Humble Bundle games are worth paying for, especially as the guys who wrote them didn't have a big studio behind them paying monthly salaries... but here again, YMMV.
Doing "the body" right now, which I assume to be the last stage of the game, and I must concur : the game, despite being 2D and handdrawn (not a fault in itself, but people might get turned off when they see it initially), is very very good and addictive.
You're lacking a vision here. Increasing the taxes? That's so 80s. I say we put big fat signs on the side of anything coffee. something along the lines of : "Caffeine can decrease fertility! Caffeine consumption can lower the spermcount!". then we'll coffee producers to only use Monsanto -special K- caffeine free Coffee beans. As with all Monsanto patented natural products, you can only grow one batch, and then you need to buy a new batch... profit and even more dependant south american and third world countries. And think about the patent lawsuits and new jobs in the new prisons for all the patent and copyright infriging scums!
Probably because my answer was just a different way of saying "so what? just because you read it elsewhere yesterday doesn't make it any less interesting for those who DIDN'T read it elsewhere. Considering the news in question, one day, or even one week, late doesn't make a difference"
I just put it in less words the first time around
indeed. I tried to play nice at first... giving them plenty of time to answer. I guess that was my (and the original poster's) error. I should have spammed them to death instead (and just ignored the forums. Google really NEVER check the support forums):/
Slashdot Mirror
well, asshol'y coward, learn to read. Steam will or will not let me switch to offline mode, depending on the position of the moon. THAT is the hole point. it's a crappy DRM scheme, and you're an idiot.
hmm ... if that was a troll post, then you're a pure fanboy. ..." and then after 5mn or so "couldn't connect to steam. You have to connect to steam first to play offline" ( The phrasing might have been different but that was the gist). ... "downloading patch. est. time : 3 hours". When the game was finally patched, I started it, it worked, called my niece, went offline as I can't really play online due to my ping of at least 200ms, and I prefer to have windows as offline as possible. My niece cam, I started Left4Dead ... "couldn't connect to steam. You have to connect to steam first to play offline".
Point in case : I was looking for a gift for my niece's birthday and wanted to ask her if she would like Left 4 Dead. It took me 3 days to download my copy from steam by the way (despite a 5mb/s connection which is the best i can get where I am, but was still faster and cheaper than to have a physical disk shipped to my place). So I called her to my place, disconnected from the intertube and fired up L4D. "updating steam client
I sent my niece home, and told her I'd call her as soon as I could start the game, reconnected the lan, started steam. got the message "updating steam client" (took ~only~ 10mn). Tried to start L4D
just for the sake of it, I tried a few other steam games, and about half of them told me the same, despite the fact that I already played them all at one point or the other, which should, dixit steam, be enough to be able to play offline.
Services like Steam can be convenient (and if you're not paying in Euros, it can be cheap, as I found out yesterday when Steam told me that I'm now in Germany and not in South America anymore, and so must pay 19.99 euros instead of 19.99$ for a game, even if I am just visiting), but their DRM scheme is complete and utter shit. The net result is that I might still buy games if they are really really good, but I sure as hell will play a pirated copy if I can find one that isn't virus ridden. The only online game retailer I often find myself buying games from lately is Good Old Games : DRM free, consistent prices and http downloads! THAT is service. (no, I'm not affiliated and I'm not getting any percentage. I'm just a very happy regular customer)
funny how stories tend to come in packs. The Movie "Unthinkable" was ranked #3 at IMDB prior to the release of the DVD/BR (it was a straight to video release). The producer ended up asking on the IMDB forums the people who had rated it where they got it from and about ideas on how to make things fairer for both sides. ... it IS worth it), as it is a really interesting movie.
As someone who saw it ~early~ too, I can only urge you to watch it (if possible through a legal rental or by buying the DVD or BR
I wonder whether this and TFS are linked somehow.
I thought that was the point Fallout3 ... Something about "politicians are evil robots and only weird radio jocks with stupid names should be trusted", along with "if you can loot it and you don't get shot then it's yours" and "shoot first, check to see if it was a mutant later". Damn .. I learned so much from that game ...
why don't we just use a warp drive to fly where the telescope would be pointing at? Tss .. silly scientists always complicating things!
okay, said like that it actually makes sense. Not that I would personally opt in, but if people really feel the noodly appendage pony raping is something they want and it's not something they are tricked into using, why not?!
thanks for the clarification
No. It hasn't. Basically, It has been avoided through FUD. "Lag you experience can be caused by your peripherals" isn't even remotely an answer to "how big is the lag caused by your technology?"
What could have been considered an answer would have been something along the lines of "We measured an average 100-150ms lag when playing at 1680x1050 over a good connection 2 hops away", not "we won't say, because your mouse might cause lag too"
sigh ... I forgot the most important bit of course. The line stating that forfeiting the ads would be to forfeit the wonderfull new and particularly advanced features of the new printer.
Yep, but it really depends on how easy it is opt out for someone who thinks that the harddrive is the big box sitting on his desk (which happens to describe a LOT of people somehow). Knowing marketing people, I envision the process to be something like that ...
Initializing Printer ... ... ... Martha Grannyapple ... 01234987654 ... Y ... ? ... H ... Y ... ... ...
This is your first time. Please answer a few question to setup your new printer correctly
What is your full name?
What is your phone number?
Are you behind a Firewall If you don't know the answer, press Y
Enable HP IntelliAd Professional (tm)? If you don't know the answer, press Y
If you don't know the answer, press Y. Enable HP IntelliAd Professional (tm)?
If you don't know the answer, press Y. Enable HP IntelliAd Professional (tm)?
Processing
Thank you for enabling HP IntelliAd Professional (tm).
You can easily disable HP IntelliAd Professional (tm) by unchecking the 4rth option from the top in the MAIN->CONFIGURATION->INTERNET->SERVICES->INTELLIAD->SUBSCRIPTION->CONTROLS->OMGPONIES->NOODLYAPPENDAGE->ENABLE menu.
Processing
Please choose now which daily content should be used to fill the blanks between the ads
see .. you made his point : Video Games teach you how to behave in real life : Do whatever you want, jus don't get caught!
without any attempt at trolling or flamebaiting, they could also ask for a modern OS which can be installed on most computers the kids might have, even if it is outdated or from Apple, and which comes with no additional costs nothing.
What exists when people forget Newton's first law is a Darwin Award contender (possibly with a posthume leading role in the next anti-drug campaign movie).
Which might be the reason why it's in slashdot/games ... I'm just guessing here of course.
and before anyone comment on that : my keyboard *IS* broken
because he has to have driving lessons and pass a test to use a car, whereas he can go to the next wallmart and buy the shiniest thingy he allows a salesperson to sell him without even having ever touched a mouse, let alone a keyboard, in his life maybe?!
And no .. it doesn't matter whether it's OSX, Windows or some Linux WM : most people shut down their half their brains and ban any tiniest impulse of curiosity when confronted with a computer for the first time, and fail to change that over time. A good indicator is the "I had an error.my computer is broken" "what did the error say?" "I don't know, I just clicked OK" syndrom.
I guess this is mostly due to the way computers are sold as being "really simple to use" and machines which "will unleash your creativity and make your life just easy". That's just not true. Computers are very complex machines, no matter how glossy the icons on the desktop are. They are prone to problems (exactly like cars), and if you don't know what you're doing, in the best case, nothing will happen (which is generally interpreted by users as "it doesn't work. my computer is broken") or weird stuff happens ("my icons disappeared! I didn't do anything!" [subtext : I clicked some buttons and pressed some shit without reading the messages that popped up and I can't even remember WHAT I did]
It's not that people are dumb, it's just that they don't actually KNOW what a computer is, in terms of what it can or can't do, or how it is correctly operated. And I don't see that chaning anytime soon.
just to get back to your car analogy : put someone who never drove a car in the drivers seat and tell him to start the car, and drive around the block ... please don't forget to put the video on youtube afterward. it should be a hit ... literally.
Or, as Duke N. Ukem, Philosophe Extraordinaire, once said : "Nuke 'em 'till they glow, then shoot 'em in the dark!"
3.5 inch impressive even! .. Does it come with a magnifying glass?
I wonder
sorry. I guess I forgot the [sarcasm][/sarcasm] tags.
Which is probably why Reuters, which asked for it under the Freedom of Information Act, couldn't get this video until it was leaked. They just lacked the connection to a congresscritter.
weird. Penumbra worked very well for me (linux too) and I never experienced crashes nor failing functionality. ... YMMV
Lugaru was a turnoff at first. once I understood the controls, it was became a great game. Never had any framerate problems neither (pretty constant subjective >50 fps with an old nvidia8800 at 1680x1050, everything on), but well
People worked hard on those games, and they deliver some very unusual gameplay with some really nice eye candy (Lugaru doesn't really fall in the eye candy department, but its strength is in the content). I finished Goo, I nearly finished Aquaria (still got the endboss to beat), working hard to beat some wolves in Lugaru, and I finished the first Penumbra. Gish is fun and quite innovative, but the save system is incredibly frustrating. ... but here again, YMMV.
Most AAA titles can't hold my attention that long, mostly because they sacrifice ingenuity for pure bling visuals and run-of-the-mill content. That really gets boring fast. So, IMO, all of the Humble Bundle games are worth paying for, especially as the guys who wrote them didn't have a big studio behind them paying monthly salaries
Doing "the body" right now, which I assume to be the last stage of the game, and I must concur : the game, despite being 2D and handdrawn (not a fault in itself, but people might get turned off when they see it initially), is very very good and addictive.
You're lacking a vision here. Increasing the taxes? That's so 80s. I say we put big fat signs on the side of anything coffee. something along the lines of : "Caffeine can decrease fertility! Caffeine consumption can lower the spermcount!". then we'll coffee producers to only use Monsanto -special K- caffeine free Coffee beans. As with all Monsanto patented natural products, you can only grow one batch, and then you need to buy a new batch ... profit and even more dependant south american and third world countries. And think about the patent lawsuits and new jobs in the new prisons for all the patent and copyright infriging scums!
Probably because my answer was just a different way of saying "so what? just because you read it elsewhere yesterday doesn't make it any less interesting for those who DIDN'T read it elsewhere. Considering the news in question, one day, or even one week, late doesn't make a difference"
I just put it in less words the first time around
I didn't.
indeed. I tried to play nice at first ... giving them plenty of time to answer. I guess that was my (and the original poster's) error. I should have spammed them to death instead (and just ignored the forums. Google really NEVER check the support forums) :/