1. GURPS works well for some settings and campaigns, not so well for others.
2. GURPS features provide for many of the wants and needs of the players/characters, but not all of them. Other game systems have different blind spots, making them a better choice in some instances.
3. The "look and feel" of GURPS isn't appealing to some groups of players.
Calling it a "generic universal role-playing system" doesn't make it one. To paraphrase my.sig, "you try to front with lames / published by Steve Jackson Games".
This was greatly improved in their derivative AEon system. AEon had a constant difficulty threshold, and more challenging tasks required more successes. This shifted the balance away from luck (the WoD system) towards skill (the AEon system), since more skill meant more dice to throw at this target number. The WoD system scaled the difficulty number, offsetting your skill level and resulting in the counterintuitve results you mentioned.
Really? I guess that makes me a Sysadmin 4/Comic Nerd 3/Movie Buff 3/Gamer 1. That's about a level a year since I turned 18. Not bad! Now all I have to do is hire a wizard to dispel some of these age-based penalties...
Sometimes, it's good to just answer the question yourself, for yourself. Instead of settling for the trivial answer to "why are they doing this?", consider the implications of "why am I confused?".
If you're using an application on a regular basis (Because I does what you need it to do) then you will learn it's user interface regardless of how unfreindly it is on first glance.
It's not a question of being "unfriendly at first glance"--most new interfaces are (that's what makes them "new"). It's a question of being unfriendly throughout the lifetime of your interactions with it, due to bad design decisions made at a deep level. Your statement gives developers permission to punish end-users for needing to use the app. This is good news if you're a monopoly, but bad news if you have competitors.
I think the re-sizing thing is supposed to make sense because Apple dialogs favor a "center-biased layout" standard. Visually, the important stuff is always or near the center of the dialog, right where your eyes expect it to be and can most easily recognize it.
The dialog can safely resize to eliminate wasted screenspace (by only taking up enough space for the relevant options) because the information you're looking for is always in the same location regardless of dialog size.
In theory, anyway. Dislike of window autosizing may have been due to Microsoft-centric habits, lack of time to truly familiarize onself with Apple's way of doing things, and limited understanding of Apple's design goals in this context.
Knowing what I know now, I'd happily accept autosizing dialogs, and blithely spend the few cycles necessary to become used to them.
Of course, it would also be nice if Apple's OSX platform (the hardware) was reasonably affordable, user-moddable, compliant with my employer's corporate technology standards, and able to run the games I like to play...
Funny; I just installed an NT x.x from scratch this week. It wasn't like that at all. Sure, there were some complications, but hey--we're using it as an enterprise solution (not my decision, so don't bug me about it), so it's not like we expected it to be easy; nor do we treat it as such.
I've also done from-scratch installs of all of M$'s OSes (up to Win2k), and they're all relatively straightforward. Certainly easier than my first few times installing *BSD or Solaris.
I've only put together 4 items from Ikea, but I did not encounter any instances of breakage or incompleteness. I also purchased a couch from them (pre-assembled) that is structurally sound. It's possible Ikea's shortcomings are not consistent, and you were simply the victim of a freak occurence. I don't know if that makes you feel better or not, though.
Does your company employ a call center? Does that call center support a project you're working on? Would you prefer to spend your work day on the project, or answering phone calls from customers? If you're answering phone calls, then who's working on the project? If you'd prefer to to work on the project, while someone else buffers you from the phone line, then you're just hiding from your customers. Shame on you! Drop whatever you're doing and get on the phones right now!
There's your answer right there. If they have to build a custom client, then they've violated the DMCA (reverse engineering, circumventing your encryption, &c.).
Clearly you're assuming these sequels were supposed to be good. In reality, quality was completely irrelevant. Disney intended these movies to generate additional cashflow from their core demographic (children and their parents) with minimal overhead. They're not spectacular, and most of them went direct-to-video, but if you're a parent with a preadolescent child, you probably shelled out for them to see it anyway. Don't judge Disney by its franchise perpetuators, judge it by its flagship offerings.
Hrm. Those haven't been that great either, recently... never mind.
Because it's jammed with so much cool sh*t that the typical geek will cream his pants for a week enjoying it all.
Yes, but what does that mean?
Could you please give maybe one or two examples of what you think is so cool? Because I like Tron a lot, but I'm not currently aware of any reason I should own it--certainly my geek cred is just fine as it is:)
FWIW, The Bourne Identity (the book, not the movie), was 90% about exactly this kind of social engineering. The rest was mostly love story, mixed with occasional gunplay.
Thermal imaging relies on emissions in the Infrared band, which is a subset of the Electromagnetic Spectrum. I'm pretty sure that nothing in the EM spectrum requires a medium for propagation. After all, visible light, UV rays, X-rays, and radio waves all travel through space just fine, don't they?
Remind me again how you thought we were communicating with the various interplanetary probes we've sent out of our atmosphere.
Isn't wilful "evil" a form of insanity? Anyway, the parent comment did not reference Islam at all, but the terrorists themselves. I think we can safely call them madmen with no fear of belittling them.
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2. GURPS features provide for many of the wants and needs of the players/characters, but not all of them. Other game systems have different blind spots, making them a better choice in some instances.
3. The "look and feel" of GURPS isn't appealing to some groups of players.
Calling it a "generic universal role-playing system" doesn't make it one. To paraphrase my .sig, "you try to front with lames / published by Steve Jackson Games".
This was greatly improved in their derivative AEon system. AEon had a constant difficulty threshold, and more challenging tasks required more successes. This shifted the balance away from luck (the WoD system) towards skill (the AEon system), since more skill meant more dice to throw at this target number. The WoD system scaled the difficulty number, offsetting your skill level and resulting in the counterintuitve results you mentioned.
Really? I guess that makes me a Sysadmin 4/Comic Nerd 3/Movie Buff 3/Gamer 1. That's about a level a year since I turned 18. Not bad! Now all I have to do is hire a wizard to dispel some of these age-based penalties...
Yeah, but GURPS uses too much algebra.
Bwahahaha!
Wow, you're funny. Now fuck off an protest the waste of space that is the Louvre.
You are not ready.
That's the cool thing about "art", though: everybody gets to interpret it differently, and come away with a personal, unique experience.
Then again, you may not be. All the Linux distros seem to fit your implied "hellbound OS" criteria too.
Sometimes, it's good to just answer the question yourself, for yourself. Instead of settling for the trivial answer to "why are they doing this?", consider the implications of "why am I confused?".
It's not a question of being "unfriendly at first glance"--most new interfaces are (that's what makes them "new"). It's a question of being unfriendly throughout the lifetime of your interactions with it, due to bad design decisions made at a deep level. Your statement gives developers permission to punish end-users for needing to use the app. This is good news if you're a monopoly, but bad news if you have competitors.
I think the re-sizing thing is supposed to make sense because Apple dialogs favor a "center-biased layout" standard. Visually, the important stuff is always or near the center of the dialog, right where your eyes expect it to be and can most easily recognize it.
The dialog can safely resize to eliminate wasted screenspace (by only taking up enough space for the relevant options) because the information you're looking for is always in the same location regardless of dialog size.
In theory, anyway. Dislike of window autosizing may have been due to Microsoft-centric habits, lack of time to truly familiarize onself with Apple's way of doing things, and limited understanding of Apple's design goals in this context.
Knowing what I know now, I'd happily accept autosizing dialogs, and blithely spend the few cycles necessary to become used to them.
Of course, it would also be nice if Apple's OSX platform (the hardware) was reasonably affordable, user-moddable, compliant with my employer's corporate technology standards, and able to run the games I like to play...
A newspaper article is neither a research paper nor a dissertation.
Most Reuters articles run to one or two paragraphs. Two pages is certainly fairly lengthy by wire service standards.
An English Comp 101 class is not a graduate program. 2+ page research papers are typical early assignments for such a class.
An English Comp research paper is not a dissertation.
Neither of you is making any sort of useful comparison. Please evaluate things using relevant criteria, instead of arbitrary criteria.
HTH. HAND.
Funny; I just installed an NT x.x from scratch this week. It wasn't like that at all. Sure, there were some complications, but hey--we're using it as an enterprise solution (not my decision, so don't bug me about it), so it's not like we expected it to be easy; nor do we treat it as such. I've also done from-scratch installs of all of M$'s OSes (up to Win2k), and they're all relatively straightforward. Certainly easier than my first few times installing *BSD or Solaris.
Actually, "Mars" is filmed on the same soundstage as the "Moon", but with a red filter on the camera.
1. Send commercial expedition to the moon.
2. Verify Apollo landings.
3. Profit!
The World Wrestling Federation? I never fall for what they say! Greenpeace? I'm still not sure about them...
I've only put together 4 items from Ikea, but I did not encounter any instances of breakage or incompleteness. I also purchased a couch from them (pre-assembled) that is structurally sound. It's possible Ikea's shortcomings are not consistent, and you were simply the victim of a freak occurence. I don't know if that makes you feel better or not, though.
Does your company employ a call center? Does that call center support a project you're working on? Would you prefer to spend your work day on the project, or answering phone calls from customers? If you're answering phone calls, then who's working on the project? If you'd prefer to to work on the project, while someone else buffers you from the phone line, then you're just hiding from your customers. Shame on you! Drop whatever you're doing and get on the phones right now!
Your definition would seem to cover DeCSS. In real-world testing, this has been proven untrue.
There's your answer right there. If they have to build a custom client, then they've violated the DMCA (reverse engineering, circumventing your encryption, &c.).
Hrm. Those haven't been that great either, recently... never mind.
Yes, but what does that mean?
Could you please give maybe one or two examples of what you think is so cool? Because I like Tron a lot, but I'm not currently aware of any reason I should own it--certainly my geek cred is just fine as it is :)
FWIW, The Bourne Identity (the book, not the movie), was 90% about exactly this kind of social engineering. The rest was mostly love story, mixed with occasional gunplay.
Remind me again how you thought we were communicating with the various interplanetary probes we've sent out of our atmosphere.
Isn't wilful "evil" a form of insanity? Anyway, the parent comment did not reference Islam at all, but the terrorists themselves. I think we can safely call them madmen with no fear of belittling them.