I don't know about "runining the game", but there are negative effects to bots that are not immediately apparent.
Problem: Bot users gain more money than they would usually. Why this is bad: Inflation moves a little faster. It means that that shiny 100g sword you want to buy from the Auction House now costs more as gold is depreciated in value.
Problem: Bot users gain more valuable items than they would usually. Why this is bad: This is the anti-point of the above: there are now more of the above swords in the AH, pushing down prices. Yay! And that's the end of the positive effects of this. The tangible negatives are
- if you find this shiny sword and don't want it, the above point will work against you when selling it
- it's less rare than it should be, turning "whoa you have a shiny sword!" into "oh yeah I got that sword for my alt, its not bad eh"
- said shiny swords become standard. they're relatively easy to get now, but if you don't have one, you're at a hella disadvantage to everyone else. it's just another widening of the gap between the lowest geared char and the highest.
Problem: Bot users get to 70 with little actual play experience. Why this is bad: If you're on an instance run with this guy, I feel for you. When you're done wiping over and over because Retardbotterxyz doesn't know what aggro is or just isn't fast enough at moving from a bosses' aoe or the run doesn't start at all ("whr is the place guyz? lol wht do u meen key?"), you'll know EXACTLY why this is bad.
Problem: Botting removes much of the challenge from the game. Why this is bad: The botter is likely to tire of the game quicker. You're less likely to get a "productive" guild/instance/raid member and more likely to just suffer the above residual effects with the server having nothing to show for it.
Problem: You spent X days getting to 70. Botter spent a fraction of that. Why this is bad: How does your accomplishment feel now? This is a social game. Competition between players makes up a large part of it. Players who insist they just do it "for the fun" (no shit sherlock, what am I here for then?) will deny this, but in an MMO, status means quite a lot. The spirit of competition is nothing to brush off or, in this case, cheat.
And while I'm ranting -- ideally a game designer shouldn't even need to shoot down any rumours regarding graphics. A good game doesn't need to rely on super realistic FX... and this goes for "mindless" FPS games, too. Just look at Painkiller for the epitome of a fun game where you shoot things with guns (mind you, any game with a lightning-enchanted ninja star gun is going to come out ahead).
Because when I think rich storytelling in games, I think id Software.
Seriously though - why are they talking about storytelling? The most they could muster is "scientists break through into a lair... FROM HELL!... and one of the scientists becomes a demon." Shouldn't they be talking about the evolution of the shotgun as a diplomatic medium in their games?
I'm always spotting "Palin" in amongst a bunch of news articles on digg or whatever and thinking "oh sweet! Michael Palin!". It never is but I still get my hopes up. Kindly use her full name in summaries for people like me:)
It's not evil. It's unethical. The suppliers believed that the company would use their power to smelt aluminium, not resell it and go into direct competition with them. The management of the company obviously have no ethics and don't mind having their business relationship go into the shitter with no chance of renewal.
Step 1: Overstate features, generate massive hype
Step 2: Run out of time, cut 50% of promised features, nerf remaining 50%
Step 3: Profit because nobody learned from Black & White and Fable.
The only decent game the guy's made in his life is Dungeon Keeper 1.
Neg - it stays up in the background (and patches tend to take a while to install). It also explicitly requires the user to close the downloader, unless this was removed. I've never had a problem with patch download speeds in NZ.
All of your quoted nerfs have associated godly buffs that make said changes a drop in the bucket. For example, a cooldown-less, chance-to-activate-on-bleeds overpower. Have you seen the arms talents at all? It sounds like you've been spending too much time listening to the trolls/whiners on the warrior forums.
Four years of entertainment for $800. $200 a year. What point are you trying to make?
Compare this to any other regular form of entertainment and you'll find it comes out favourably.
- A night out on the town every two weeks? Let's be conservative and say $20 per outing (good luck with that). $520 a year. $2080 in four years.
- "Regular" games? Again, being conservative, a casual gamer that plays 10 hours a week and the average $30 game lasts 50 hours (good luck with that). $300 a year. $1200 in four years.
- A weekly trip to the cinema. My local price is $14 -- I'll cut that down to $9 for the sake of argument (and guessing US pricing). $468 a year. $1872 in four years.
- Let's get really cheap... a weekly tramp through the bush. $3 for some lunch and $3 to drive there and back. $312 a year. $1248 in four years.
The best of those solutions accounts for 10 hours a week of entertainment (the casual gamer who has extremely good luck with titles and duration)... and yet WoW is still significantly cheaper. If you want to rack that 10 hours up to 30 or 40, which is fairly hardcore, the casual gamer solution costs 700-1000 more per year than WoW. The money argument is a flawed argument and only helps draw attention to the extreme entertainment thriftiness of MMO gaming. Adopt a different argument and I'll slam it too, if not quite as hard.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't know about "runining the game", but there are negative effects to bots that are not immediately apparent.
Problem: Bot users gain more money than they would usually.
Why this is bad: Inflation moves a little faster. It means that that shiny 100g sword you want to buy from the Auction House now costs more as gold is depreciated in value.
Problem: Bot users gain more valuable items than they would usually.
Why this is bad: This is the anti-point of the above: there are now more of the above swords in the AH, pushing down prices. Yay! And that's the end of the positive effects of this. The tangible negatives are
- if you find this shiny sword and don't want it, the above point will work against you when selling it
- it's less rare than it should be, turning "whoa you have a shiny sword!" into "oh yeah I got that sword for my alt, its not bad eh"
- said shiny swords become standard. they're relatively easy to get now, but if you don't have one, you're at a hella disadvantage to everyone else. it's just another widening of the gap between the lowest geared char and the highest.
Problem: Bot users get to 70 with little actual play experience.
Why this is bad: If you're on an instance run with this guy, I feel for you. When you're done wiping over and over because Retardbotterxyz doesn't know what aggro is or just isn't fast enough at moving from a bosses' aoe or the run doesn't start at all ("whr is the place guyz? lol wht do u meen key?"), you'll know EXACTLY why this is bad.
Problem: Botting removes much of the challenge from the game.
Why this is bad: The botter is likely to tire of the game quicker. You're less likely to get a "productive" guild/instance/raid member and more likely to just suffer the above residual effects with the server having nothing to show for it.
Problem: You spent X days getting to 70. Botter spent a fraction of that.
Why this is bad: How does your accomplishment feel now? This is a social game. Competition between players makes up a large part of it. Players who insist they just do it "for the fun" (no shit sherlock, what am I here for then?) will deny this, but in an MMO, status means quite a lot. The spirit of competition is nothing to brush off or, in this case, cheat.
I would like to meet this mystical 99 percentile chunk of gamers you refer to.
BALLS BALLS BALLS BALLS
BALLS OF STEEEL
*pause*
Just go awa--
I'VE GOT BALLS OF STEEEL
And while I'm ranting -- ideally a game designer shouldn't even need to shoot down any rumours regarding graphics. A good game doesn't need to rely on super realistic FX... and this goes for "mindless" FPS games, too. Just look at Painkiller for the epitome of a fun game where you shoot things with guns (mind you, any game with a lightning-enchanted ninja star gun is going to come out ahead).
Because when I think rich storytelling in games, I think id Software.
... and one of the scientists becomes a demon." Shouldn't they be talking about the evolution of the shotgun as a diplomatic medium in their games?
Seriously though - why are they talking about storytelling? The most they could muster is "scientists break through into a lair... FROM HELL!
Who marked the parent troll?
Moderation system != Hide posts you don't agree with system
Depth queues? What, people lining up to buy submarines?
I'm always spotting "Palin" in amongst a bunch of news articles on digg or whatever and thinking "oh sweet! Michael Palin!". It never is but I still get my hopes up. Kindly use her full name in summaries for people like me :)
Legal power != ethical
What's the diff? (other than the focus on N's)
How many games can you buy in a month for $15?
Moving from the US the Australia is like moving from the septic tank to the toilet bowl.
:P
Hey, it's true
It's not evil. It's unethical. The suppliers believed that the company would use their power to smelt aluminium, not resell it and go into direct competition with them. The management of the company obviously have no ethics and don't mind having their business relationship go into the shitter with no chance of renewal.
I'm afraid it is. I almost mentioned Populous: The Beginning as I did enjoy it... for all of a day.
Alright guys, you know the drill.
Step 1: Overstate features, generate massive hype
Step 2: Run out of time, cut 50% of promised features, nerf remaining 50%
Step 3: Profit because nobody learned from Black & White and Fable.
The only decent game the guy's made in his life is Dungeon Keeper 1.
No, it's The Witcher. It pretty much has a minigame to conquer as many women as you can, complete with trophy porn cards.
What kind of country doesn't have diesel at stations?!
Neg - it stays up in the background (and patches tend to take a while to install). It also explicitly requires the user to close the downloader, unless this was removed. I've never had a problem with patch download speeds in NZ.
Hi,
All of your quoted nerfs have associated godly buffs that make said changes a drop in the bucket. For example, a cooldown-less, chance-to-activate-on-bleeds overpower. Have you seen the arms talents at all? It sounds like you've been spending too much time listening to the trolls/whiners on the warrior forums.
Four years of entertainment for $800. $200 a year. What point are you trying to make?
Compare this to any other regular form of entertainment and you'll find it comes out favourably.
- A night out on the town every two weeks? Let's be conservative and say $20 per outing (good luck with that). $520 a year. $2080 in four years.
- "Regular" games? Again, being conservative, a casual gamer that plays 10 hours a week and the average $30 game lasts 50 hours (good luck with that). $300 a year. $1200 in four years.
- A weekly trip to the cinema. My local price is $14 -- I'll cut that down to $9 for the sake of argument (and guessing US pricing). $468 a year. $1872 in four years.
- Let's get really cheap... a weekly tramp through the bush. $3 for some lunch and $3 to drive there and back. $312 a year. $1248 in four years.
The best of those solutions accounts for 10 hours a week of entertainment (the casual gamer who has extremely good luck with titles and duration)... and yet WoW is still significantly cheaper. If you want to rack that 10 hours up to 30 or 40, which is fairly hardcore, the casual gamer solution costs 700-1000 more per year than WoW. The money argument is a flawed argument and only helps draw attention to the extreme entertainment thriftiness of MMO gaming. Adopt a different argument and I'll slam it too, if not quite as hard.
I'd rather sit in the basement playing games. But then that's my opinion of a good time. YMMV
Roll a druid. Use the following macro.
/cast Wrath
/y KHAAAAAN
Wwwwwwwow. Two whole paragraphs of Whooooosh.
I guess I was a little too subtle...
Or, in the immortal words of yoda:
Find lack I faith disturbing your of.
The first rule of English is you don't talk about English.