You misread me, or I wasn't clear. I don't expect to be at the same level. I'd like to be able to play with my friends, regardless of the level difference.
I understand I won't be as effective. In most games, you can play alongside higher level players, but you won't get any experience or any loot. There's no incentive to play with your friends if they're way up there in levels.
In some games, like FFXI, the "penalty" for having different levels is extreme once you get 3 or 4 levels out. You could play 4 hours a day, but if your friend plays 5, you won't be able to play alongside them (unless you don't mind letting the gap widen even further). I think that is the problem.
Penny Arcade had a hint at a major weakness (in my eyes). I read it as them suggesting that they wanted to play with their girlfriend, but in order to do that they had to limit their own play, so she doesn't become a "support" character. (Site's down, else I'd grab an exact quote).
That's one of the major failings of all MMOGs I've seen thus far, except perhaps UO. That real-life friends can have a lot of trouble trying to keep up, and once one falls behind, they are pretty much screwed unless they can play a lot of catch-up.
I'm waiting for the day a game comes out that allows for players to take breaks/vacations/do real life stuff, and still be able to play with their friends. So far all they've done is make it very difficult. (I do have personal experience with this, not just blowing smoke)
Think data warehousing company. The RFID scanner manufacturers would be dumb not to try to bundle some sort of data collection and analysis package to sell their customers. Then its only a matter of a few SQL joins and bam, distributed tracking.
It wouldn't be all that expensive. It's just a matter of having the RFID scanners connect (probably over the internet) to a master database.
A free terrorist report any time you're turned down for a job? Perhaps some states will require one free terrorist report per year for anyone who asks?
I hate the idea, but I am curious to see what they have on file for me.
I disagree. Just as there are bad television programs, there are also bad books. _Lots_ of bad books. Most books are indeed a waste of time. I'm sure you can name a list that aren't, but that list would only encompass a small fraction of the number of books out there.
The thing about the anti-TV elitists that I've noticed is that, unless you read the same list of books as they do, you are a "lesser" man. "Oh you haven't read ?" as they look down on you.
"Gabe's going to cancel his account when he finds out that it takes twice the experience to get from this level to this level, or the materials you worked so hard to get are destroyed because of some arbitrary roll. For you and me, hey, maybe we don't mind that kind of thing. Maybe we hate ourselves already and see the genre as a way to work off spiritual debt, like a karmic gym. Regular people, a definition I don't usually apply to Gabe, but whatever - regular people know that things like that are bullshit."
Sounds like another "toss your skills and critical thinking out the window" game. It's unlikely I'll be purchasing it.
(BTW, how is a mouse made from plastic and rubber, made from drilled oil and other substances, and shipped across the Pacific Ocean in diesel burning vessels supposed to be nature-friendly?
That would be pretty cool. You could have different ladder classifications based on the size of the code, or based on limitations (no left turns, heh.. I'm sure someone can come up with better ones), etc.
If you could make it so the player is actually still interacting with the game (so they're all "enhancements" of some sort) then you might have something there. I've seen games where you programmed a robot and set it off to fight - it was neat, but after a few runs you just wanted to go in there and bash around a bit yourself.;)
It only takes a day or so of downtime for Epic's master ban list before all of the public servers stop using it. Who'd want to waste a minute or whatever to connect every time, while the connection times out.
It just means that the providers for the ISPs (lets call them Network Service Providers for now because as you imply, there isn't a real difference except perhaps in the scale of the customers) are realizing that bandwidth is not an unlimited resource. They have to maintain peering arrangements, at best, and transit arrangements otherwise. Both of which will include bandwidth limitations on either upstream or downstream (less often in cases where companies meet at public peering points though).
Ultimately there's a limit to how much bandwidth an OC-3 or OC-12 or what have you will handle, and there are limits to what peering will do. Rather than have an unstable situation where everyone can upload and download at whatever max rate the pipe allows, ISPs and NSPs have contracts which allow them to predict capacity usage and predict when expensive (very, VERY expensive) upgrades will be necessary in the future.
It's not exactly a *choice*. ISPs get reduced pricing from their providers by saying they'll maintain a certain upstream/downstream ratio. If they go over that, it's very expensive - as in all contracts if you exceed usage.
ISPs get that reduced pricing to offer more services, provide better download bandwidth, and of course get more profits. They decide on the ratio based on average use. They have to charge more for upstream because if they didn't, and one month everyone decides to start uploading lots of stuff, they're stuck with a HUGE bill.
Sure would be nice of the game companies to release the binaries/code to let people run their own servers. Even if they couldn't do it at the same scale as a farm of machines, people would still dig it.
UO will probably always exist because of the UO emulators.
We don't respect mechanics because we, and our friends, have been lied to by mechanics so many times. Either about what needs to be repaired, what they broke while they were repairing something else, etc.
If computer techs started pulling the same shit that mechanics have been pulling, taking severe advantage of their greater knowledge of the subject, computer techs are going to be just as disrespected.
I wouldn't care if they got further breaking the rules, as long as they didn't win the prize if they finished the race. I look at it more of a showcase of technology than a showcase of rule-following.
I'm sure it'd be much easier to take a successful rule-breaking vehicle and tweak it to follow the rules than take a vehicle that couldn't get past 7 miles and make it a winner...
My computer - Athlon XP 2600+, GeForce Ti 4200, 1 7200RPM drive, 1 CD burner, and an LCD monitor NEC 1760BK use a total of 186W of power, idle but display on, according to my UPS. A 17" CRT (Sony) takes about 78W alone (just tested it).
So more likely, your computer will idle close to ~160W, and then you can add ~20W (LCD) or ~75W (CRT). 180W and 235W respectively.
We pay 8 cents per kWh here (4 cents if you're under a certain rediculously low maximum). 180W, $10.40/mo, 230W $13.53. Assuming you just leave it on and don't do anything with it, like surf slashdot or play a game...;) Then it goes up.
The iMac should cost about $7.48/month to run. It's not quite $10, but it's still a significant drop (almost half if you start with a CRT). Even more of a drop if you use a high wattage chip such as a late model P4.
I would think that the ability to destroy people's homes and/or their livelihoods (work, schools, etc) would be WAY more non-G-rated than people sleeping in the same bed for a few seconds in a game.
Tongue is slightly in cheek, but seriously, I wonder if that principal would have allowed such staples as Oregon Trail..:)
Slashdot Mirror
I would like to play Earthbound on my GBA SP. I played it on an emulator and had a blast.
Humorous anecdote, I couldn't remember the name of the game so I went to google and put in "super nintendo rpg bizarre". Sure enough, first hit!
Quit ruining the fun? Why let the editors be the only ones?
You misread me, or I wasn't clear. I don't expect to be at the same level. I'd like to be able to play with my friends, regardless of the level difference.
I understand I won't be as effective. In most games, you can play alongside higher level players, but you won't get any experience or any loot. There's no incentive to play with your friends if they're way up there in levels.
In some games, like FFXI, the "penalty" for having different levels is extreme once you get 3 or 4 levels out. You could play 4 hours a day, but if your friend plays 5, you won't be able to play alongside them (unless you don't mind letting the gap widen even further). I think that is the problem.
Penny Arcade had a hint at a major weakness (in my eyes). I read it as them suggesting that they wanted to play with their girlfriend, but in order to do that they had to limit their own play, so she doesn't become a "support" character. (Site's down, else I'd grab an exact quote).
That's one of the major failings of all MMOGs I've seen thus far, except perhaps UO. That real-life friends can have a lot of trouble trying to keep up, and once one falls behind, they are pretty much screwed unless they can play a lot of catch-up.
I'm waiting for the day a game comes out that allows for players to take breaks/vacations/do real life stuff, and still be able to play with their friends. So far all they've done is make it very difficult. (I do have personal experience with this, not just blowing smoke)
The better question is, will the Sun, in its lifetime, give off more energy than it took to create it?
I'm guessing not, but I'm not a physicist.
I meant that you could get a copy of your own terrorist report, not that you could submit one. Not quite as innovative..
Think data warehousing company. The RFID scanner manufacturers would be dumb not to try to bundle some sort of data collection and analysis package to sell their customers. Then its only a matter of a few SQL joins and bam, distributed tracking.
It wouldn't be all that expensive. It's just a matter of having the RFID scanners connect (probably over the internet) to a master database.
A free terrorist report any time you're turned down for a job? Perhaps some states will require one free terrorist report per year for anyone who asks?
I hate the idea, but I am curious to see what they have on file for me.
I disagree. Just as there are bad television programs, there are also bad books. _Lots_ of bad books. Most books are indeed a waste of time. I'm sure you can name a list that aren't, but that list would only encompass a small fraction of the number of books out there.
The thing about the anti-TV elitists that I've noticed is that, unless you read the same list of books as they do, you are a "lesser" man. "Oh you haven't read ?" as they look down on you.
Hmm. I read that as Gabe won't like *this* game because of the experience to get from level to level.
;)
The "maybe there's some kind of grind" line does counter that, though.
Upon further reading in to it, I think you're right. But that paragraph could have made it more clear.
Yep, same ol', same ol':
obPennyArcade link.
"Gabe's going to cancel his account when he finds out that it takes twice the experience to get from this level to this level, or the materials you worked so hard to get are destroyed because of some arbitrary roll. For you and me, hey, maybe we don't mind that kind of thing. Maybe we hate ourselves already and see the genre as a way to work off spiritual debt, like a karmic gym. Regular people, a definition I don't usually apply to Gabe, but whatever - regular people know that things like that are bullshit."
Sounds like another "toss your skills and critical thinking out the window" game. It's unlikely I'll be purchasing it.
(BTW, how is a mouse made from plastic and rubber, made from drilled oil and other substances, and shipped across the Pacific Ocean in diesel burning vessels supposed to be nature-friendly?
That would be pretty cool. You could have different ladder classifications based on the size of the code, or based on limitations (no left turns, heh.. I'm sure someone can come up with better ones), etc.
;)
If you could make it so the player is actually still interacting with the game (so they're all "enhancements" of some sort) then you might have something there. I've seen games where you programmed a robot and set it off to fight - it was neat, but after a few runs you just wanted to go in there and bash around a bit yourself.
It only takes a day or so of downtime for Epic's master ban list before all of the public servers stop using it. Who'd want to waste a minute or whatever to connect every time, while the connection times out.
It just means that the providers for the ISPs (lets call them Network Service Providers for now because as you imply, there isn't a real difference except perhaps in the scale of the customers) are realizing that bandwidth is not an unlimited resource. They have to maintain peering arrangements, at best, and transit arrangements otherwise. Both of which will include bandwidth limitations on either upstream or downstream (less often in cases where companies meet at public peering points though).
Ultimately there's a limit to how much bandwidth an OC-3 or OC-12 or what have you will handle, and there are limits to what peering will do. Rather than have an unstable situation where everyone can upload and download at whatever max rate the pipe allows, ISPs and NSPs have contracts which allow them to predict capacity usage and predict when expensive (very, VERY expensive) upgrades will be necessary in the future.
It's not exactly a *choice*. ISPs get reduced pricing from their providers by saying they'll maintain a certain upstream/downstream ratio. If they go over that, it's very expensive - as in all contracts if you exceed usage.
ISPs get that reduced pricing to offer more services, provide better download bandwidth, and of course get more profits. They decide on the ratio based on average use. They have to charge more for upstream because if they didn't, and one month everyone decides to start uploading lots of stuff, they're stuck with a HUGE bill.
Sure would be nice of the game companies to release the binaries/code to let people run their own servers. Even if they couldn't do it at the same scale as a farm of machines, people would still dig it.
UO will probably always exist because of the UO emulators.
We don't respect mechanics because we, and our friends, have been lied to by mechanics so many times. Either about what needs to be repaired, what they broke while they were repairing something else, etc.
If computer techs started pulling the same shit that mechanics have been pulling, taking severe advantage of their greater knowledge of the subject, computer techs are going to be just as disrespected.
Yeah, but forget all about the thread's context, where the poster was talking about power use when they swapped their computers.
/. in threaded mode, so you can understand the concept of context?
Might I recommend reading
I wouldn't care if they got further breaking the rules, as long as they didn't win the prize if they finished the race. I look at it more of a showcase of technology than a showcase of rule-following.
I'm sure it'd be much easier to take a successful rule-breaking vehicle and tweak it to follow the rules than take a vehicle that couldn't get past 7 miles and make it a winner...
I meant, had to have the ability to be disabled by DARPA. Doh.
Look for reports on why each vehicle was disabled - I wonder how much of it was silly rule violating vs. actual safety issues.
(FWIW, every vehicle had to be disabled by DARPA from remote).
You're forgetting the monitor.
;) Then it goes up.
My computer - Athlon XP 2600+, GeForce Ti 4200, 1 7200RPM drive, 1 CD burner, and an LCD monitor NEC 1760BK use a total of 186W of power, idle but display on, according to my UPS. A 17" CRT (Sony) takes about 78W alone (just tested it).
So more likely, your computer will idle close to ~160W, and then you can add ~20W (LCD) or ~75W (CRT). 180W and 235W respectively.
We pay 8 cents per kWh here (4 cents if you're under a certain rediculously low maximum). 180W, $10.40/mo, 230W $13.53. Assuming you just leave it on and don't do anything with it, like surf slashdot or play a game...
The iMac should cost about $7.48/month to run. It's not quite $10, but it's still a significant drop (almost half if you start with a CRT). Even more of a drop if you use a high wattage chip such as a late model P4.
I would think that the ability to destroy people's homes and/or their livelihoods (work, schools, etc) would be WAY more non-G-rated than people sleeping in the same bed for a few seconds in a game.
:)
Tongue is slightly in cheek, but seriously, I wonder if that principal would have allowed such staples as Oregon Trail..
Right. One day, I'd love to see a company actually follow through with a contract. Oh wait, most do!
This is a basic contract dispute. It's not Real suing out of the blue just because Windows Media Player exists.