I have a keyboard/dock for my windows 7 tablet and while it takes some adjusting for me, as my keyboard/dock is not full sized, it generally fine. Took a bit of getting used too, but now I don't notice any difference between using it and my PC.
I assume it is fund managers, I recall seeing in the last year that more fund managers are showing up to stockholder meetings and demanding better oversight on decisions. Just recently a fund in Ca was unhappy with Apple plans and it sounded like the managers of the fund made the decision not the people whose retirements are vested in the fund itself.
They do have server(s) which you can sell your gold to other players for real cash, but I don't know if the goblin is on those servers. You cannot sell to SOE, as they aren't buying.
There are special servers set up, and if you were on these servers then yes you could through the interface set up by SOE. I assume they are still up as if you go to everquest2.com and hover over "SHOP" you can click the "Exchange" button and get taken to https://exchange.livegamer.com/eqii/
I just wish developers would add mouse/keyboard support for all console games. I would play much more on consoles then. I just don't care for joysticks, much rather have a mouse.
There is one advantage to the used game from GameStop, and that is the return policy. Yeah you only save $5, but you have 7 days to return the game for a full refund. They tell you, "you can return it if you don't like it", so you get to try the game out. There is no similar return for most new software. Whether or not that is enough of a value add to justify a $5 discount on a used game or not is up to the purchaser, however I give them more credit now that I know of the policy.
I feel that when it comes to Steam you trade for things. Yes I have to online activate but in exchange, I can uninstall and reinstall without worrying about a lost or damaged disk. In addition, I can download and install at my parents house when I'm there for vacation and play without carrying disks at the risk of losing or damaging them(assuming no one is at home playing on my computer). This gives me one very useful feature, as I got tired of losing disk 1 of 5 or having it scratched), and one feature which seems nice but I've only used it once or twice ever.
As a college student, the iPad interests me in being a replacement for regular paper notebooks. I'd like to be able to take notes, via a real or virtual keyboard, as well as use a stylus for when I need to take non text notes, ideally on the same 'page'. Being able to browse the web during or between classes in order to get reference documents would be very nice. It is kinda of a pain on my phone, given its size. Add in 3G, and the iPad seems like it would fill the role well enough. I wish it had more storage space, and memory card slots however.
So many people are saying this iPad is a flop in the making and that there are other alternatives. I see people say how great their tablet is, but so few people name them. So what other options are out there, in the $500-$700 range. I saw some very nice machines for $1500 but I just do not want to spend that much.
Suggestions?
Wasn't WSJ a pay online service before Murdoch aqquired them? So he finally bought 1 that worked, doesn't mean at all that they understand how to make a profit off the net, just that they have to cash to buy others who might.
So you can pull a Black Lotus from a pack. However I assume you cannot legally play with it in whatever the current format of tourney is? I haven't played since someone stole my T1 cards about 10 years back , I couldn't afford to replace the dual lands and juzams much less the power 9 and wasn't interested in trying. Was fun while it lasted though.
It really isn't the same thing. In your scenario the same company produces both products. In the theater scenario it is separate companies. Theaters could refuse to take the standard price models of the newest movies, but then they would just get movies that no one wants to see. I suspect the industry as a whole would have to change in order for studios to make "big" movies and not know that they are taking 90% first 2 weeks and slowly sliding down. All the small theater owners/managers I ever spoke too would love to be able to demand bigger cuts, but they don't have the bargaining power.
My favorite theater of all time was one where they were essentially a theater-restaurant. You get into the theater ~20 minutes before the show is to start. It was a mix of tables and what would be basically standard theater seating but with a bar style counter running between the rows. So everyone had a seat and place to eat. They would take orders and all food was served ~5 minutes before the show started. After that no one came out to serve again until after the show ended. I loved it. the food was decent, the chairs were comfy, and they didn't even charge any more per ticket than the regular movie theater. I miss that place.
Randy,
I can respect that you are coming from the perspective of a competitor, and commenting on how you would feel better about the distribution channel if it wasn't directly conjoined with one of your biggest competitors. I can really understand that concept.
As a customer, I hope Steam *never* separates from Valve. I trust them, as well as I can trust any corporation, as they have in the past demonstrated that they *really* want my cash, and are willing to prove it. They do it in a variety of ways, creating top notch games, having an easy method for purchase, letting me give away copies of games I already own if I get a second copy in a new bundle, allow me to re-download games regardless of me losing a disk, keep their DRM pretty much out of my way, and often have 50% off sales.
The only reason I know what Borderlands is, is because of the Steam advertisements. I work for a company who goes into retailers and services xBox displays, and evangelizes new releases. Last month it was all ODST, this month Modern Warfare 2 bundle. I haven't heard anything about Borderlands. I'm not suggesting that your game is too small to care about, I am suggesting that one of these channels is giving you more help than the other. That would be the one you think takes too much of a share.
Could there be more Steam like services? Sure there could be. I don't personally want another one. I don't need one. Not until someone shows me how that would benefit me. Stardock is ok, I have a handfull of their games. I prefer the Steam system, I actually like the unified friends lists. I'll buy more games from Stardock, but I'm in no rush to a 3rd, 4th or 5th service.
If you are worried that Steam doesn't earn it's share, then don't use it. If Steam sales are not good enough kick them to the curb. You won't get my dollars, but I'm only a single customer. If you are serious enough who knows, maybe Steam will change their policy towards developers. Those Steam folks seem to really like making money, and they tend to be pretty good at doing things customer would like, I suspect they would do their best even if the customer was another business and not an end user. As many people have said Gearbox can start their own. I thought Valve was weird when they launched Steam. They proved the value of their service to me. Can you do better?
One last note. I really would suggest you do not claim Steam is a "money grab" when you are essentially complaining that you should be making more money from me the customer. Your service is definitely not as valuable to me, at this point. I don't think I have played any of your previous games, but perhaps I am wrong. To say they are "exploiting" is really disingenuous.
TiVo could *easily* hookup with Best Buy, and their Geek Squad to work out free install with purchase deals [Best Buy Commercial Voice] Only at Best Buy!! [/voice]. That way people who were not comfortable with doing it themselves could still get in on it. Best Buy loves any reason to get you used to using Geek Squad so its a win there. People like me who will do what is needed to get 2T+ of storage, and a machine that is much ore zippy than TiVo can offer economically win. I would assume they would keep the standard monthly fee as well, because they can. So I am really not sure why it hasn't been done. I can only assume that if it came up, they decided it was too much hassle, or that people would be afraid. I really think if you partnered with Best Buy to start it would cover that issue no problem. Once enough people do it, others would get brave enough to skip the BBUY installs.
I had a TiVo, and a TiVo branded DirecTV DVR, and now have a non TiVo DirecTV DVR. All of them suck. I swear if TiVo wants to win, it just needs to come up with the PCI(e) card and software to run the system. Let me use my own computer hardware, so I can decide capacities, and the hardware levels. All of those DVRs are sluggish, have terribly slow menu systems, take forever to recompute a record list, and have unnecessarily small storage space. I looked online and found people who would mod your TiVo to 1TB for $500. That's insane. I would much rather pay $300 for a TiVo add on card to my PC, then determine how much HD space, RAM, etc is available. I will gladly drop the cash on the box and the TiVo card to make sure I can get the features they own, lists of over 50 shows at a time (the worst thing about the DirecTV DVR, only 50 spots!!!!). If TiVo wants my household as a customer, all they have to do is release this and I would be ALL over it.
I don't know how much WoW grossed but it is is important to remember that the account totals announced are always worldwide. WoW does not have 11 million accounts in North America/Europe. There are more accounts based in China than anywhere else. WoW does not charge $15/mo. in China.
From: http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/50881
Blizzard Entertainment's unavoidable MMORPG sensation World of Warcraft (PC) now sports over 10 million active subscribers, the company has announced. Of those, about 2.5 million are located in North America, 2 million in Europe, and 5.5 million in Asia."
"the subscription model for WoW in China is different from other parts of the world. Instead of a monthly subscription fee, Chinese gamers purchase WoW Points cards for 30 Yuan ($3.64) that are worth 600 points. Points expire at a rate of 9 per hour of play, so this amounts to 66 hours and 40 minutes of play for each card at an average of.45 Yuan ($.06) per hour"
The link below is the article where it was said, it is from 2006, however it has the link to the company page in China who handled WoW until recently and it is the same.
And you may see that as a moot point, however as someone who has 20+ STEAM games, and have seen what happens when Steam matchmaking breaks, it is not a moot point to me. Perhaps I misunderstand the way Battle.net ensures that noone is cheating, but I am under the impression that yes throughout the game battle.net monitors the traffic for , well, whatever it is they use to discover cheaters. Do you believe this is not the case, that once a match is made Battle.net doesn't do anything at all with the data and therefore is no longer necessary?
LAN parties may be out of date, however LAN's are far more common now. SC2 not having LAN support is a disappointment for many because we play with our families on the home network. Now we will have to use Battle.net for something that we really don't need it for. I'm not saying it is evil, however to me it is a feature that removed means their product is less of a value to me, and my family. Now instead of buying copies for the family, likely we'll get one and just not play multiplayer at all. It is their game and if they don't want our money by providing the service we want, so be it. I do think it is a mistake, and I do believe that it has to do with phoning home meaning control.
Slashdot Mirror
I have a keyboard/dock for my windows 7 tablet and while it takes some adjusting for me, as my keyboard/dock is not full sized, it generally fine. Took a bit of getting used too, but now I don't notice any difference between using it and my PC.
I assume it is fund managers, I recall seeing in the last year that more fund managers are showing up to stockholder meetings and demanding better oversight on decisions. Just recently a fund in Ca was unhappy with Apple plans and it sounded like the managers of the fund made the decision not the people whose retirements are vested in the fund itself.
They do have server(s) which you can sell your gold to other players for real cash, but I don't know if the goblin is on those servers. You cannot sell to SOE, as they aren't buying.
There are special servers set up, and if you were on these servers then yes you could through the interface set up by SOE. I assume they are still up as if you go to everquest2.com and hover over "SHOP" you can click the "Exchange" button and get taken to https://exchange.livegamer.com/eqii/
I just wish developers would add mouse/keyboard support for all console games. I would play much more on consoles then. I just don't care for joysticks, much rather have a mouse.
Posting to fix mod error, sorry.
So.... are you saying you have started the "The Copper Is Too Damn High" party?
There is one advantage to the used game from GameStop, and that is the return policy. Yeah you only save $5, but you have 7 days to return the game for a full refund. They tell you, "you can return it if you don't like it", so you get to try the game out. There is no similar return for most new software. Whether or not that is enough of a value add to justify a $5 discount on a used game or not is up to the purchaser, however I give them more credit now that I know of the policy.
Taxes are modest now? Oh I misunderstood which organization we were talking about, my mistake.
I feel that when it comes to Steam you trade for things. Yes I have to online activate but in exchange, I can uninstall and reinstall without worrying about a lost or damaged disk. In addition, I can download and install at my parents house when I'm there for vacation and play without carrying disks at the risk of losing or damaging them(assuming no one is at home playing on my computer). This gives me one very useful feature, as I got tired of losing disk 1 of 5 or having it scratched), and one feature which seems nice but I've only used it once or twice ever.
As a college student, the iPad interests me in being a replacement for regular paper notebooks. I'd like to be able to take notes, via a real or virtual keyboard, as well as use a stylus for when I need to take non text notes, ideally on the same 'page'. Being able to browse the web during or between classes in order to get reference documents would be very nice. It is kinda of a pain on my phone, given its size. Add in 3G, and the iPad seems like it would fill the role well enough. I wish it had more storage space, and memory card slots however. So many people are saying this iPad is a flop in the making and that there are other alternatives. I see people say how great their tablet is, but so few people name them. So what other options are out there, in the $500-$700 range. I saw some very nice machines for $1500 but I just do not want to spend that much. Suggestions?
Wasn't WSJ a pay online service before Murdoch aqquired them? So he finally bought 1 that worked, doesn't mean at all that they understand how to make a profit off the net, just that they have to cash to buy others who might.
So you can pull a Black Lotus from a pack. However I assume you cannot legally play with it in whatever the current format of tourney is? I haven't played since someone stole my T1 cards about 10 years back , I couldn't afford to replace the dual lands and juzams much less the power 9 and wasn't interested in trying. Was fun while it lasted though.
It really isn't the same thing. In your scenario the same company produces both products. In the theater scenario it is separate companies. Theaters could refuse to take the standard price models of the newest movies, but then they would just get movies that no one wants to see. I suspect the industry as a whole would have to change in order for studios to make "big" movies and not know that they are taking 90% first 2 weeks and slowly sliding down. All the small theater owners/managers I ever spoke too would love to be able to demand bigger cuts, but they don't have the bargaining power.
My favorite theater of all time was one where they were essentially a theater-restaurant. You get into the theater ~20 minutes before the show is to start. It was a mix of tables and what would be basically standard theater seating but with a bar style counter running between the rows. So everyone had a seat and place to eat. They would take orders and all food was served ~5 minutes before the show started. After that no one came out to serve again until after the show ended. I loved it. the food was decent, the chairs were comfy, and they didn't even charge any more per ticket than the regular movie theater. I miss that place.
Randy,
I can respect that you are coming from the perspective of a competitor, and commenting on how you would feel better about the distribution channel if it wasn't directly conjoined with one of your biggest competitors. I can really understand that concept.
As a customer, I hope Steam *never* separates from Valve. I trust them, as well as I can trust any corporation, as they have in the past demonstrated that they *really* want my cash, and are willing to prove it. They do it in a variety of ways, creating top notch games, having an easy method for purchase, letting me give away copies of games I already own if I get a second copy in a new bundle, allow me to re-download games regardless of me losing a disk, keep their DRM pretty much out of my way, and often have 50% off sales.
The only reason I know what Borderlands is, is because of the Steam advertisements. I work for a company who goes into retailers and services xBox displays, and evangelizes new releases. Last month it was all ODST, this month Modern Warfare 2 bundle. I haven't heard anything about Borderlands. I'm not suggesting that your game is too small to care about, I am suggesting that one of these channels is giving you more help than the other. That would be the one you think takes too much of a share.
Could there be more Steam like services? Sure there could be. I don't personally want another one. I don't need one. Not until someone shows me how that would benefit me. Stardock is ok, I have a handfull of their games. I prefer the Steam system, I actually like the unified friends lists. I'll buy more games from Stardock, but I'm in no rush to a 3rd, 4th or 5th service.
If you are worried that Steam doesn't earn it's share, then don't use it. If Steam sales are not good enough kick them to the curb. You won't get my dollars, but I'm only a single customer. If you are serious enough who knows, maybe Steam will change their policy towards developers. Those Steam folks seem to really like making money, and they tend to be pretty good at doing things customer would like, I suspect they would do their best even if the customer was another business and not an end user. As many people have said Gearbox can start their own. I thought Valve was weird when they launched Steam. They proved the value of their service to me. Can you do better?
One last note. I really would suggest you do not claim Steam is a "money grab" when you are essentially complaining that you should be making more money from me the customer. Your service is definitely not as valuable to me, at this point. I don't think I have played any of your previous games, but perhaps I am wrong. To say they are "exploiting" is really disingenuous.
The HD comes via the TV to Zune HD dock which allows the Zune to output 720p video, it is not related to the OLED touchscreen on the device itself.
TiVo could *easily* hookup with Best Buy, and their Geek Squad to work out free install with purchase deals [Best Buy Commercial Voice] Only at Best Buy!! [/voice]. That way people who were not comfortable with doing it themselves could still get in on it. Best Buy loves any reason to get you used to using Geek Squad so its a win there. People like me who will do what is needed to get 2T+ of storage, and a machine that is much ore zippy than TiVo can offer economically win. I would assume they would keep the standard monthly fee as well, because they can. So I am really not sure why it hasn't been done. I can only assume that if it came up, they decided it was too much hassle, or that people would be afraid. I really think if you partnered with Best Buy to start it would cover that issue no problem. Once enough people do it, others would get brave enough to skip the BBUY installs.
I had a TiVo, and a TiVo branded DirecTV DVR, and now have a non TiVo DirecTV DVR. All of them suck. I swear if TiVo wants to win, it just needs to come up with the PCI(e) card and software to run the system. Let me use my own computer hardware, so I can decide capacities, and the hardware levels. All of those DVRs are sluggish, have terribly slow menu systems, take forever to recompute a record list, and have unnecessarily small storage space. I looked online and found people who would mod your TiVo to 1TB for $500. That's insane. I would much rather pay $300 for a TiVo add on card to my PC, then determine how much HD space, RAM, etc is available. I will gladly drop the cash on the box and the TiVo card to make sure I can get the features they own, lists of over 50 shows at a time (the worst thing about the DirecTV DVR, only 50 spots!!!!). If TiVo wants my household as a customer, all they have to do is release this and I would be ALL over it.
A new Dungeon Keeper could/would kick ass. I need newer HD lands, and minions to slap about until the enact my will.
I don't know how much WoW grossed but it is is important to remember that the account totals announced are always worldwide. WoW does not have 11 million accounts in North America/Europe. There are more accounts based in China than anywhere else. WoW does not charge $15/mo. in China.
.45 Yuan ($.06) per hour"
From: http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/50881
Blizzard Entertainment's unavoidable MMORPG sensation World of Warcraft (PC) now sports over 10 million active subscribers, the company has announced. Of those, about 2.5 million are located in North America, 2 million in Europe, and 5.5 million in Asia."
"the subscription model for WoW in China is different from other parts of the world. Instead of a monthly subscription fee, Chinese gamers purchase WoW Points cards for 30 Yuan ($3.64) that are worth 600 points. Points expire at a rate of 9 per hour of play, so this amounts to 66 hours and 40 minutes of play for each card at an average of
The link below is the article where it was said, it is from 2006, however it has the link to the company page in China who handled WoW until recently and it is the same.
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/02/11/joystiq-interview-hoyt-ma-the9/
And you may see that as a moot point, however as someone who has 20+ STEAM games, and have seen what happens when Steam matchmaking breaks, it is not a moot point to me. Perhaps I misunderstand the way Battle.net ensures that noone is cheating, but I am under the impression that yes throughout the game battle.net monitors the traffic for , well, whatever it is they use to discover cheaters. Do you believe this is not the case, that once a match is made Battle.net doesn't do anything at all with the data and therefore is no longer necessary?
LAN parties may be out of date, however LAN's are far more common now. SC2 not having LAN support is a disappointment for many because we play with our families on the home network. Now we will have to use Battle.net for something that we really don't need it for. I'm not saying it is evil, however to me it is a feature that removed means their product is less of a value to me, and my family. Now instead of buying copies for the family, likely we'll get one and just not play multiplayer at all. It is their game and if they don't want our money by providing the service we want, so be it. I do think it is a mistake, and I do believe that it has to do with phoning home meaning control.
Interesting, I've never heard of such a rule, so I checked Hasbro. The rules on Hasbro don't seem to agree with you. In fact they explicitly state no other player may secure a mortgaged property by paying the mortgage. Where are you getting your rules from?
http://www.hasbro.com/games/kid-games/monopoly/default.cfm?page=StrategyGuide/Rules/rules_mortgages
I am confident that Elvis did exist..... I mean I have all of his religious plates and his oral bible records. You can't fool me Prince of Lies!