Me too (Also used OWA Lite in FF for Windows); I've never found problems with OWA Lite. Heck, I've seen "full" OWA (in those few times I've touched IE lately), and I'd say the full OWA interface is too cluttered, especially if you don't have a bazillion-inch monitor
"When people try to play MTG and other CCG's like a money game, they quickly lose the ability to play with ordinary players and get stuck in their own brackets even at tournaments."
Myself, I'm an MtG player who's starting to get into the lower rungs of the tournament scene
What exactly do you mean by 'money game'? Paying the crazy quantity of money to buy tournament-caliber cards?
The 'stuck in their own brackets even at tournaments.' part I'm not clear on the meaning of either.
You need to shell out to play competitive tournament MTG (generally), sure.
How do they "lose their ability to play with ordinary players?". Do you mean that some players end up being ultra-competitive a-holes? I don't doubt that that happens, but I say 'not necessarily'.
Do you mean that the competitive tourney players' decks simply outclass the noncompetitive players', leading to unfun games? Yeah, can happen.
However: * I find myself maintaining separate nontournament decks for purposes like these (and because they have cool themes) * Some tournament forums, specifically Standard, place restrictions on your card pool. A quality Standard deck versus an average deck with a fairly unrestricted card pool can still be interesting. (Of course, a quality deck with an unrestricted card pool would whoop ass)
Skilled cardgame players are still going to beat unskilled players; it's not solely a factor of the
You're right that it's screwed up that players have to put in obscene amounts of time to get the items legit. That gets people aggravated, as it probably should. Since players can't change the game design, bots & farming seem like a readily available solution, but you're right in saying that such a solution has its own problems.
So if you wanna keep playing, you're stuck either way.
I've played a bunch of non-RPG online games (a few of the browser-based ones), and I notice a similar pattern, not quite as intense, but definitely still very noticeable.
prices of existing cards don't seem to be crashing; they're following relatively normal pricing patterns; it's just that people seem to be cutting back on buying *more*.
Sure is a fine line between complexity and tedium, you're right there. Interestingly, some players develop a sentimental attachment to the tedium involved in their game of choice, another line-blurrer IMHO.
Specific comment, though: A multi-ship battle being broken down into one-on-one fights doesn't make sense - seems to simplistic, and underestimates the true force advantage you'd have.
How many resource types is too much? Starcraft's 2? Age of Empires' 4? More?
Realism can't override bad gameplay, seemingly one must admit...
I'd be inclined to agree with you on Civ3 and Civ4...I've kept to Civ2 myself. Civ 1 --> Civ 2 is a great example of where *useful* things were added (the fixed combat mechanics, and a few novel new units; my favorite of the new Civ II units was/is the Marine). The AI was still dumb, but not *as* dumb & trickable. (cough diplomacy cough) Hell, "Civ 1 with isometric graphics" would have been a useful upgrade by itself. Colony micromanagement I don't recall being any worse in Civ2.
SimCity 1 to SimCity 2 was just fine to me, for similar reasons, including the graphics-approach change. I liked the addition of a few more mass-transit types; I liked some of the city ordinances, but a lot of the ordinances seemed obvious one way or another
SimCity 3 also added a few useful features, but I can see the series starting to go down there. Garbage system, realistic issue for city management, was a good addition Local power/water deals seemed stupid, though
Landmarks weren't necessary, but they were fine as a side activity, which is exactly what they were set up as AFAIK.
I repeatedly hit a weird bug in SC3 when my city was big & well-managed that caused the city to plummet in pop and such, that's the main reason I put that game back down, not any feature changes
Do you mean "Hasbro"? I have not played DnD, but I've heard a lot of "Hasbro this, Hasbor that" in an MtG contenxt...not sure of the veracity/fanboy angst balance there, but that may be a more accurate way to put it.
Plastic, rubber adhesive and cloth as far as I know...
I think it could actually be difficult/impossible to tear pieces of Duct Tape small enough to be properly applied in the right places on a small detail job like this.
Heh, I have one (my main-use one) that's survived the washer at least once. It is a model that has a retractable USB connector
Only failure point I've into is with a cap-for-the-connector model; the join point chipped over time and the chip came loose; it's just that the memory chip (although it still works) is too fragile for everyday use.
Yeah, I don't follow RPG's, so I don't know what's going on over there. Only played MTG since 2004, so I don't have the oldtimer nostalgia and/or I-don't-want-change attitude.
Why do you say it's dumbed down because there's less of an emphasis on counterspell control? What do you think of the fact that there ARE powerful control decks in Standard right now?
Alara block limited has been fun, yes...if only I knew what the heck I was doing.:)
It was a funny ad, but with substance, arguing some specific advantages of the product that it's trying to sell (reliability, low cost, active community).
Ads without substance suck (although they're still effective in a tactical sense.:() * Funny ads without substance are good only for the humor value IMHO
This appeals with a practical message, but uses humor to help drive the point. I like it.
Furthermore, it would be accessible and relate-able for non-techies.
People know it's a "computer thingy", so they'd ask their tech-attuned relatives for advice, I would presume. In a business context, would the manager get the right picture form their MIS/IT guys?
With their recent work on MtG, Hasbro/WotC seems hell-bent on acquiring new players lately (a concept that in and of itself DOES make sense) Nothing huge has occurred yet IMHO, but it is looking like THAT game may be being dumbed-down somewhat in the pursuit of new players as well.
I have a few sodas a day (we're talking a couple hundred milligrams, if that [maybe 150]), and I'm quite under control. (one around wakeup, one midmorning, one with lunch and/or one in the early afternoon, maybe)
If I get a decent night's sleep (which is hard/unlikely during the work/school week even if I hit the sack at a reasonable hour), I really find myself quite able to have only 1 or 2 cans/day ( 100mg), or even not bother with it at all.
If I really haven't gotten enough sleep (say because I've been up way too late posting on Slashdot), I find that caffeine simply doesn't cut it, even in above-average quantities.
Energy drinks aren't cost-effective per milligram of caffeine; I need to test whether the other stuff in them does any good for me.
I wonder what effect non-caffeinated soda has (I like ginger ale and root beer in that category). I wonder if there's a placebo effect/alternate effect from the fizziness?
Never like the idea of coffee, hot and bitter is hard to drink IMHO; some people love it, but I don't understand.
A lot of the sorry physical state you see in retired athletes may have as much to do with the playing injuries (especially in contact sports like rugby, American football, boxing, etc.)
Sure, you have a point with the moderation comment, but I doubt that's the whole picture
"Under our current system, insurance companies decide."
If you weren't already at +5, I'd make one of those "mod thus guy up" posts.
The argument you just knocked down is one of the things I keep on hearing form the anti-UHC people. I might just use your retort if I get into such an argument in the near future.:)
Government healthcare doesn't necessarily need to swing the banhammer on nongovernment care in the country. It *can* and *is* set up that way in many areas, but it's not an inherent feature to the concept.
Government covering a solid minimum for everybody, and letting rich people buy more/quicker healthcare - makes sense (is still fair to everyone, and doesn't do as much to irritate rich people who want to utilize their wealth in this manner)
batches of trading cards are also evidently less important. My Magic the Gathering business has gone way down for the October 2008 and February 2009 expansions, the April 2009 one might be the same.:(
Slashdot Mirror
"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office" - Aesop
Me too (Also used OWA Lite in FF for Windows); I've never found problems with OWA Lite.
Heck, I've seen "full" OWA (in those few times I've touched IE lately), and I'd say the full OWA interface is too cluttered, especially if you don't have a bazillion-inch monitor
"When people try to play MTG and other CCG's like a money game, they quickly lose the ability to play with ordinary players and get stuck in their own brackets even at tournaments."
Myself, I'm an MtG player who's starting to get into the lower rungs of the tournament scene
What exactly do you mean by 'money game'?
Paying the crazy quantity of money to buy tournament-caliber cards?
The 'stuck in their own brackets even at tournaments.' part I'm not clear on the meaning of either.
You need to shell out to play competitive tournament MTG (generally), sure.
How do they "lose their ability to play with ordinary players?".
Do you mean that some players end up being ultra-competitive a-holes? I don't doubt that that happens, but I say 'not necessarily'.
Do you mean that the competitive tourney players' decks simply outclass the noncompetitive players', leading to unfun games? Yeah, can happen.
However:
* I find myself maintaining separate nontournament decks for purposes like these (and because they have cool themes)
* Some tournament forums, specifically Standard, place restrictions on your card pool. A quality Standard deck versus an average deck with a fairly unrestricted card pool can still be interesting. (Of course, a quality deck with an unrestricted card pool would whoop ass)
Skilled cardgame players are still going to beat unskilled players; it's not solely a factor of the
You're right that it's screwed up that players have to put in obscene amounts of time to get the items legit. That gets people aggravated, as it probably should. Since players can't change the game design, bots & farming seem like a readily available solution, but you're right in saying that such a solution has its own problems.
So if you wanna keep playing, you're stuck either way.
I've played a bunch of non-RPG online games (a few of the browser-based ones), and I notice a similar pattern, not quite as intense, but definitely still very noticeable.
prices of existing cards don't seem to be crashing; they're following relatively normal pricing patterns; it's just that people seem to be cutting back on buying *more*.
Sure is a fine line between complexity and tedium, you're right there.
Interestingly, some players develop a sentimental attachment to the tedium involved in their game of choice, another line-blurrer IMHO.
Specific comment, though: A multi-ship battle being broken down into one-on-one fights doesn't make sense - seems to simplistic, and underestimates the true force advantage you'd have.
How many resource types is too much? Starcraft's 2? Age of Empires' 4? More?
Realism can't override bad gameplay, seemingly one must admit...
I'd be inclined to agree with you on Civ3 and Civ4...I've kept to Civ2 myself.
Civ 1 --> Civ 2 is a great example of where *useful* things were added (the fixed combat mechanics, and a few novel new units; my favorite of the new Civ II units was/is the Marine). The AI was still dumb, but not *as* dumb & trickable. (cough diplomacy cough) Hell, "Civ 1 with isometric graphics" would have been a useful upgrade by itself.
Colony micromanagement I don't recall being any worse in Civ2.
SimCity 1 to SimCity 2 was just fine to me, for similar reasons, including the graphics-approach change.
I liked the addition of a few more mass-transit types; I liked some of the city ordinances, but a lot of the ordinances seemed obvious one way or another
SimCity 3 also added a few useful features, but I can see the series starting to go down there.
Garbage system, realistic issue for city management, was a good addition
Local power/water deals seemed stupid, though
Landmarks weren't necessary, but they were fine as a side activity, which is exactly what they were set up as AFAIK.
I repeatedly hit a weird bug in SC3 when my city was big & well-managed that caused the city to plummet in pop and such, that's the main reason I put that game back down, not any feature changes
Do you mean "Hasbro"?
I have not played DnD, but I've heard a lot of "Hasbro this, Hasbor that" in an MtG contenxt...not sure of the veracity/fanboy angst balance there, but that may be a more accurate way to put it.
Here in Rochester, the Boring & Mainstream Local Media (TM) has picked up on this pretty heavily, mainly in the "backdoor price increase" sense
We use phone-company DSL, so I'd have no idea aobut how TimeWarner is currently working.
Plastic, rubber adhesive and cloth as far as I know...
I think it could actually be difficult/impossible to tear pieces of Duct Tape small enough to be properly applied in the right places on a small detail job like this.
Heh, I have one (my main-use one) that's survived the washer at least once.
It is a model that has a retractable USB connector
Only failure point I've into is with a cap-for-the-connector model; the join point chipped over time and the chip came loose; it's just that the memory chip (although it still works) is too fragile for everyday use.
Yeah, I don't follow RPG's, so I don't know what's going on over there.
Only played MTG since 2004, so I don't have the oldtimer nostalgia and/or I-don't-want-change attitude.
Why do you say it's dumbed down because there's less of an emphasis on counterspell control?
What do you think of the fact that there ARE powerful control decks in Standard right now?
Alara block limited has been fun, yes...if only I knew what the heck I was doing. :)
...My vote's with the office one.
It was a funny ad, but with substance, arguing some specific advantages of the product that it's trying to sell (reliability, low cost, active community).
Ads without substance suck (although they're still effective in a tactical sense. :()
* Funny ads without substance are good only for the humor value IMHO
This appeals with a practical message, but uses humor to help drive the point. I like it.
Furthermore, it would be accessible and relate-able for non-techies.
People know it's a "computer thingy", so they'd ask their tech-attuned relatives for advice, I would presume.
In a business context, would the manager get the right picture form their MIS/IT guys?
With their recent work on MtG, Hasbro/WotC seems hell-bent on acquiring new players lately (a concept that in and of itself DOES make sense)
Nothing huge has occurred yet IMHO, but it is looking like THAT game may be being dumbed-down somewhat in the pursuit of new players as well.
several cups of coffee a day???
I have a few sodas a day (we're talking a couple hundred milligrams, if that [maybe 150]), and I'm quite under control. (one around wakeup, one midmorning, one with lunch and/or one in the early afternoon, maybe)
If I get a decent night's sleep (which is hard/unlikely during the work/school week even if I hit the sack at a reasonable hour), I really find myself quite able to have only 1 or 2 cans/day ( 100mg), or even not bother with it at all.
If I really haven't gotten enough sleep (say because I've been up way too late posting on Slashdot), I find that caffeine simply doesn't cut it, even in above-average quantities.
Energy drinks aren't cost-effective per milligram of caffeine; I need to test whether the other stuff in them does any good for me.
I wonder what effect non-caffeinated soda has (I like ginger ale and root beer in that category). I wonder if there's a placebo effect/alternate effect from the fizziness?
Never like the idea of coffee, hot and bitter is hard to drink IMHO; some people love it, but I don't understand.
I don't get what you mean here...
...So Twitter is *occasionally* filled with useful material. :)
Translated: "I am not a douchebag, insensitive American"
Yeah, those buggers were annoying...one of 'em always seemed to show up just when I had gotten my home-base situation under control.
A lot of the sorry physical state you see in retired athletes may have as much to do with the playing injuries (especially in contact sports like rugby, American football, boxing, etc.)
Sure, you have a point with the moderation comment, but I doubt that's the whole picture
"Under our current system, insurance companies decide."
If you weren't already at +5, I'd make one of those "mod thus guy up" posts.
The argument you just knocked down is one of the things I keep on hearing form the anti-UHC people. I might just use your retort if I get into such an argument in the near future. :)
if the people facing the big tax bill could opt out, yes that would be rational for them, but it would defeat the whole damn point. :)
Government healthcare doesn't necessarily need to swing the banhammer on nongovernment care in the country.
It *can* and *is* set up that way in many areas, but it's not an inherent feature to the concept.
Government covering a solid minimum for everybody, and letting rich people buy more/quicker healthcare - makes sense (is still fair to everyone, and doesn't do as much to irritate rich people who want to utilize their wealth in this manner)
batches of trading cards are also evidently less important. My Magic the Gathering business has gone way down for the October 2008 and February 2009 expansions, the April 2009 one might be the same. :(