Unless the actors in question have the studio donate the actor's profits to the Church of Scientology. The Co$ then goes and pays the actor a "stipend" to live on, tax free, and, since the Co$ is a "charity", the movie studios get to write that off. The actors get to live tax free, the Co$ gets to play with the interest, and the studios get a tax break. Isn't religion wonderful?
I have it loaded on my G1, and it's running just fine. You might wanna check out your hardware, or possibly uninstall some stuff that runs in the background.
This was all done before changes were made to make this far more difficult, and to make it possible for a player to defend against being teleported by a player of the other faction. He says in his blog that he stopped playing when these changes went into effect because it wasn't "fun anymore". So, basically he was only having fun griefing people, and, when changes to the game meant that he would be forced to actually fight them, he quit instead of playing the new way.
No, sorry, he didn't go to the Arena. The Arena doesn't have Police Drones in the arena fights. He was using a legal-at-the-time trick to kill characters with little risk to himself. If he had actually been challenging them and fighting them, there wouldn't be a story. He was griefing players instead of fighting them.
Imagine, for a moment, that you're playing in a PvP zone in CoH. You're fighting against someone else, and they defeat you. As you respawn, you receive one of two tells from the player playing the other character:
"Haha! You suck! I didn't even break a sweat! Why don't you go home and tell your mommy how a big mean man beat you up?" or "That was a great fight, you almost had me a few times there!"
Both are allowed under the rules, but one makes you seem like a good sport, and the other makes you seem like a jerk. Would you rather have a society filled with the first type of people, or the second?
I'm really not sure what the Government Owning the Means of Production has to do with someone griefing other players in an online game. Perhaps you can explain that a bit more?
And being in a democracy doesn't have anything to do with playing a game on servers which you don't own.
Fighting means that you use your powers to actually defeat the other person playing the other character. That other player gets to use their powers to try to defeat you. Both players are equally matched in levels, and potentially have an equal ability to defeat the other.
Droning means that one player uses his Teleport Foe power to teleport a player into an area of the PvP map that players of that faction aren't supposed to go, and that player is killed instantly. The teleported player has no ability to use their powers to try to defeat the teleporting character. The teleporting player has basically killed you instantly, without earning anything for it, and the teleported character gets XP debt (what you normally get for being defeated in PvE).
Also, CoH doesn't have PvP servers, they have PvP zones. Every server has the same zones that PvP can happen in, from Arenas to full maps where everyone is matched in level. It's not like in WoW or other MMOs where PvP can happen anywhere, and the other faction can invade your territory. There are even zones where the two factions can team up together, and are a LOT more popular than the PvP zones.
They weren't pissed because he was PvPing, they were pissed because he was using cheap tactics to grief.
Basically, the way that it works, is if you're in a PvP area, and you fight another player, and you get defeated, the only thing you suffer is a bruised ego, however, what this guy was doing was to teleport people into a "safe zone" that was designed to prevent spawn camping. In that "safe zone" they have drones, or "cartoon robots" that will kill anyone of the opposite faction, or any enemy NPCs, that get too close. If you get taken out this way, you get XP debt.
So he wasn't just dueling other players, he was purposefully being a dick about it.
I agree that the zones all really need redesigns. There are zones, like Perez Park, or Boomtown, etc., which are never used these days. They need to re-design them like they did to Faultline.
The thing, though, is that, when asked about this, the Devs say that it takes only slightly less time to re-design a zone as it takes to make a new zone.
The players, when questioned if they would rather have a new zone, or a re-designed zone, always say that they want a new zone. It's really sad, though. They have a lot of areas there that are sitting abandoned and empty that I feel should be brought back to life.
Now, if they let players design mission maps like you can SG bases, and place items and baddies exactly where you want them, and have some options for new/different objectives, you would be right.
Actually, they are working on that very thing right now. They couldn't include it in the current MA update, as it would take them a lot more work, and they wanted to give us something. No idea when, or if, they'll be able to do it, but they're trying.
I've read through your post about 3 times now, and I'm not sure what you're complaining about.
Alright, so, there are only certain numbers of mission types, and most of them involve fighting things. Find me an MMO that isn't the same way.
Yes, the office maps may look similar, but they are made up of individual rooms, and those rooms have the same layout. This allows the devs to come up with more content and not worry so much about hand-creating a new map each time.
There are many different kinds of maps, not just offices and warehouses and caves and sewers (although that is most of what you'll see at earlier levels), and each of them has at least 15 different layouts, so you won't really see the same thing over and over again.
And, yes, the devs know that a lot of the office maps look alike. They play the game too, and listen to the players. But, when they ask the players "Do you want office maps to look different, or do you want us to create another zone and more content?" the players always pick the zone and content. Strange.
If you're complaining about the game not forcing you to PvP, well, I, for one, welcome that, and I know a lot of other people who play who do as well. The game would be a lot less fun for me if I had to worry about being ganked every time I wanted to go to one of my missions, or when I was doing some street-sweeping.
"If you look at successful MMO's out there"... I have news for you, CoX IS a successful MMO! It's been around for 5 years now, and isn't in any danger of shutting down. Tell me, where is The Matrix Online, or The Sims Online, etc. The CoX player base is, at last count, only slightly less than the LotRO playerbase. A game that's 5 years old vs. a game that's only about a year old, and which is based to compete directly with WoW.
Yes, CoX is now WoW. I wouldn't play it if it was. If you want to play WoW, then play WoW.
Task Forces/Strike Forces have never been required. EVER. They are great for players who want to experience the world of the game more, and actually get some *gasp* PLOT in their games! And, yes, you get badges for doing them. CoX was the first MMO to have badges, btw.
And, if you're complaining about how you don't need to team up with anyone to play the game, again, GOOD! I don't always want to have to play with someone else! I don't want to be forced to group up with other people, who I either don't know, or who I'm forced to work around their schedules in order to have fun! CoX I can pick up at any point, spend 15-20 minutes and run a mission, and then go do something else if I have to. I don't have to raid for lewt, I don't have to grind my way up to the end content, where everyone else is, I don't have to hear people telling me that I'm useless if I don't spec my character a certain way, and I don't have to play with anyone I don't want to, just because "This instance is designed for 8 people".
However, if you do that, then there is no desire to play the player-created content, and the entire thing becomes a ghost town.
There's always a way to exploit a mission, or a map, or whatever to run yourself up in levels from 1 to 50 in a matter of two or three days, but then what? You have a L50 character with no other badges, no enhancements, no money, etc.
The rate of return from tickets to enhancements is about the same as you would get outside of the MA tool, but you don't get any influence/infamy, the currency of the game.
So, sure, go ahead, grind away and get to 50 real quick. The devs can't really stop you from doing that, and, if that's all you want out of the game, you're not going to be around very long anyway. Hell, you might as well just go play Progress Quest.
TV's Frank: Now I can shoddish while watering my plants! In my Lederhosen Hosen! La la la la la la la... In my Lederhosen Hosen... I JUST WANTED TO BE BAVARIAN FOR ONE BRIGHT SHINING MOMENT! IS THAT SO WRONG?!?!
Dr. Forrester: Yes Frank, it is wrong, but you've been under a lot of stress lately. How about we get you an alpine horn, would that make you feel better?
I believe he was saying there was no internet on cell phones, which is true. I was kinda confused by that part as well, but I saw he was talking about it in the same section as his points about cell phones, and, yes, I assumed.
Because no one here would argue that there was no internet a scant 12 years ago, right?
This isn't such a bad idea. I mean, if you can have a boot drive on your mobo, then that's something you'd never have to mess with, and OS designers would be forced to keep their OS under that footprint.
Just imagine, a computer where you knew that everything that was on the hard drive was expendable, and could be deleted without harming the system...
Slashdot Mirror
Unless the actors in question have the studio donate the actor's profits to the Church of Scientology. The Co$ then goes and pays the actor a "stipend" to live on, tax free, and, since the Co$ is a "charity", the movie studios get to write that off. The actors get to live tax free, the Co$ gets to play with the interest, and the studios get a tax break. Isn't religion wonderful?
I have it loaded on my G1, and it's running just fine. You might wanna check out your hardware, or possibly uninstall some stuff that runs in the background.
The exploit he was using was later defined as griefing by the devs. It wasn't when he was originally doing it.
This was all done before changes were made to make this far more difficult, and to make it possible for a player to defend against being teleported by a player of the other faction. He says in his blog that he stopped playing when these changes went into effect because it wasn't "fun anymore". So, basically he was only having fun griefing people, and, when changes to the game meant that he would be forced to actually fight them, he quit instead of playing the new way.
No, sorry, he didn't go to the Arena. The Arena doesn't have Police Drones in the arena fights. He was using a legal-at-the-time trick to kill characters with little risk to himself. If he had actually been challenging them and fighting them, there wouldn't be a story. He was griefing players instead of fighting them.
Imagine, for a moment, that you're playing in a PvP zone in CoH. You're fighting against someone else, and they defeat you. As you respawn, you receive one of two tells from the player playing the other character:
"Haha! You suck! I didn't even break a sweat! Why don't you go home and tell your mommy how a big mean man beat you up?"
or
"That was a great fight, you almost had me a few times there!"
Both are allowed under the rules, but one makes you seem like a good sport, and the other makes you seem like a jerk. Would you rather have a society filled with the first type of people, or the second?
I'm really not sure what the Government Owning the Means of Production has to do with someone griefing other players in an online game. Perhaps you can explain that a bit more?
And being in a democracy doesn't have anything to do with playing a game on servers which you don't own.
So, he didn't stop, he was stopped.
Fighting means that you use your powers to actually defeat the other person playing the other character. That other player gets to use their powers to try to defeat you. Both players are equally matched in levels, and potentially have an equal ability to defeat the other.
Droning means that one player uses his Teleport Foe power to teleport a player into an area of the PvP map that players of that faction aren't supposed to go, and that player is killed instantly. The teleported player has no ability to use their powers to try to defeat the teleporting character. The teleporting player has basically killed you instantly, without earning anything for it, and the teleported character gets XP debt (what you normally get for being defeated in PvE).
Also, CoH doesn't have PvP servers, they have PvP zones. Every server has the same zones that PvP can happen in, from Arenas to full maps where everyone is matched in level. It's not like in WoW or other MMOs where PvP can happen anywhere, and the other faction can invade your territory. There are even zones where the two factions can team up together, and are a LOT more popular than the PvP zones.
That was written by Larry Niven.
You can find it here.
They weren't pissed because he was PvPing, they were pissed because he was using cheap tactics to grief.
Basically, the way that it works, is if you're in a PvP area, and you fight another player, and you get defeated, the only thing you suffer is a bruised ego, however, what this guy was doing was to teleport people into a "safe zone" that was designed to prevent spawn camping. In that "safe zone" they have drones, or "cartoon robots" that will kill anyone of the opposite faction, or any enemy NPCs, that get too close. If you get taken out this way, you get XP debt.
So he wasn't just dueling other players, he was purposefully being a dick about it.
From what the article says, I believe so. I haven't read the study, or seen this guy in action, but I believe that is what he was doing.
And, because of this, the devs have put in resistance to teleport as a type of defense. Too bad that not everyone can get it.
I agree that the zones all really need redesigns. There are zones, like Perez Park, or Boomtown, etc., which are never used these days. They need to re-design them like they did to Faultline.
The thing, though, is that, when asked about this, the Devs say that it takes only slightly less time to re-design a zone as it takes to make a new zone.
The players, when questioned if they would rather have a new zone, or a re-designed zone, always say that they want a new zone. It's really sad, though. They have a lot of areas there that are sitting abandoned and empty that I feel should be brought back to life.
Uh oh.
You said the "V" word.
Now, if they let players design mission maps like you can SG bases, and place items and baddies exactly where you want them, and have some options for new/different objectives, you would be right.
Actually, they are working on that very thing right now. They couldn't include it in the current MA update, as it would take them a lot more work, and they wanted to give us something. No idea when, or if, they'll be able to do it, but they're trying.
I've read through your post about 3 times now, and I'm not sure what you're complaining about.
Alright, so, there are only certain numbers of mission types, and most of them involve fighting things. Find me an MMO that isn't the same way.
Yes, the office maps may look similar, but they are made up of individual rooms, and those rooms have the same layout. This allows the devs to come up with more content and not worry so much about hand-creating a new map each time.
There are many different kinds of maps, not just offices and warehouses and caves and sewers (although that is most of what you'll see at earlier levels), and each of them has at least 15 different layouts, so you won't really see the same thing over and over again.
And, yes, the devs know that a lot of the office maps look alike. They play the game too, and listen to the players. But, when they ask the players "Do you want office maps to look different, or do you want us to create another zone and more content?" the players always pick the zone and content. Strange.
If you're complaining about the game not forcing you to PvP, well, I, for one, welcome that, and I know a lot of other people who play who do as well. The game would be a lot less fun for me if I had to worry about being ganked every time I wanted to go to one of my missions, or when I was doing some street-sweeping.
"If you look at successful MMO's out there"... I have news for you, CoX IS a successful MMO! It's been around for 5 years now, and isn't in any danger of shutting down. Tell me, where is The Matrix Online, or The Sims Online, etc. The CoX player base is, at last count, only slightly less than the LotRO playerbase. A game that's 5 years old vs. a game that's only about a year old, and which is based to compete directly with WoW.
Yes, CoX is now WoW. I wouldn't play it if it was. If you want to play WoW, then play WoW.
Task Forces/Strike Forces have never been required. EVER. They are great for players who want to experience the world of the game more, and actually get some *gasp* PLOT in their games! And, yes, you get badges for doing them. CoX was the first MMO to have badges, btw.
And, if you're complaining about how you don't need to team up with anyone to play the game, again, GOOD! I don't always want to have to play with someone else! I don't want to be forced to group up with other people, who I either don't know, or who I'm forced to work around their schedules in order to have fun! CoX I can pick up at any point, spend 15-20 minutes and run a mission, and then go do something else if I have to. I don't have to raid for lewt, I don't have to grind my way up to the end content, where everyone else is, I don't have to hear people telling me that I'm useless if I don't spec my character a certain way, and I don't have to play with anyone I don't want to, just because "This instance is designed for 8 people".
However, if you do that, then there is no desire to play the player-created content, and the entire thing becomes a ghost town.
There's always a way to exploit a mission, or a map, or whatever to run yourself up in levels from 1 to 50 in a matter of two or three days, but then what? You have a L50 character with no other badges, no enhancements, no money, etc.
The rate of return from tickets to enhancements is about the same as you would get outside of the MA tool, but you don't get any influence/infamy, the currency of the game.
So, sure, go ahead, grind away and get to 50 real quick. The devs can't really stop you from doing that, and, if that's all you want out of the game, you're not going to be around very long anyway. Hell, you might as well just go play Progress Quest.
Perhaps a little bit more strongly worded than I would have said it, but I agree with you.
The local metro system here has ads all over everything, but it's still supported by the state, and by fares.
TV's Frank: Now I can shoddish while watering my plants! In my Lederhosen Hosen! La la la la la la la... In my Lederhosen Hosen... I JUST WANTED TO BE BAVARIAN FOR ONE BRIGHT SHINING MOMENT! IS THAT SO WRONG?!?!
Dr. Forrester: Yes Frank, it is wrong, but you've been under a lot of stress lately. How about we get you an alpine horn, would that make you feel better?
TV's Frank: YES!
I believe he was saying there was no internet on cell phones, which is true. I was kinda confused by that part as well, but I saw he was talking about it in the same section as his points about cell phones, and, yes, I assumed.
Because no one here would argue that there was no internet a scant 12 years ago, right?
This isn't such a bad idea. I mean, if you can have a boot drive on your mobo, then that's something you'd never have to mess with, and OS designers would be forced to keep their OS under that footprint.
Just imagine, a computer where you knew that everything that was on the hard drive was expendable, and could be deleted without harming the system...
I think you misspelled your title. It should be:
"This Memes War"
Here's a simple test, use both.
Have a cover version of the song available for, say, $.99, and the master version available for whatever the music industry wants to charge.
Let the consumer decide.
DragonCon TV made that joke way back in 2005
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mboR7Y3pFUg