I have to disagree with you. Free-To-Play is the ultimate DRM. Your game only exists as long as that game cloud is running. As soon as it becomes unprofitable, they'll pull the plug in a heartbeat. Just like that, your game is gone.
From the publisher's point of view, this is the best possible solution. Turn everything into MMORPG, MMORTS, or MMOFPS and start raking in the dough. As soon as v2 comes out, pull the plug on v1. Or better yet, make expansion1 that makes those playing the vanilla version lose every time. I can see more powerful guns in FPS-type games (like the Double-Barrel shotgun in Doom2), more powerful units in RTS games (like Krogoth in Total Annihilation:Core Contingency), and Monty-Haul Loot Drops (TM) in MMORPGs (like Dust of Disappearance in Curse of the Azure Bonds - that stuff rocked!)
Point is - I can still play Curse of the Azure Bonds more than 20 years after it was made. Yes, I still have a floppy drive in my computer, and an emulator is required. The Free-To-Plays will probably last 5, perhaps 15 if they are a runaway success. Future generations may not have access to them. Now where did that Adventurer's Journal run off to, I need to read Entry 37.
Don't forget Nesticle_Love's fast running, arcade stomping big brother, Callus_Love. He loved those Capcom games, back in the day. We should also have some consideration for Callus' cousin, Retrocade_Love. She was easy on the eyes - too bad she stopped running when Windows became an eXPerience instead of a year. She's really let herself go.
Actually, I think Unreal Tournament (UT99) had an online ranking system (based on a DB) somewhere in the 2000s. Any UT players out there that can confirm this? It was called something like ngWorldStats, but my memory could be wrong.
The day I need my phone number in a phone book to look is the day I hang it up.
As for the CC/waitress example - the law (and the CC industry) takes a dim view of waitresses that charge themselves a little something extra with your card.
Here, now. They actually intended those drives to be used in desktop computers. As such, they used a bearing oil that would degrade if it was used longer than 8 hrs a day, likely as a cost saving measure. That was their defense, at least. Shortly after that, they sold their drive division to Hitatchi.
So, you get close to the gun turret and you hear this:
"Please leave the DMZ. You have 20 seconds to comply."
You begin leaving the DMZ, but 15 seconds later the is still chasing you.
"You have 5 seconds to comply. Four... three... two... one... I am now authorized to use physical force!"
So, these are named ED-209, right?
Wonder what happens to wildlife? How about kids? If the thing is programmed to avoid kids, does that mean little people get a free pass, too?
I've been to a church in this area that doesn't even let the laity handle the collection plates. They are affixed with long poles that the ushers keep a tight grip on. A church that doesn't touch it's congregation? Odd.
I've installed a 16G Compact Flash drive into a Powerbook G3 Bronze Keyboard (Pismo) with a CF to IDE adapter. Works great, and I did it for $30 a year ago. I'm sure they make CF to SATA bridges by now.
I'm still not quite sure how this cult of ubuntu came about, don't get me wrong there's nothing wrong with another distro, but people seem to think they do more than they actually do.
Actually, I think the Cult of Ubuntu came about with their Free CD project. I know one day, after being frustrated with Gentoo, I gave Ubuntu a whirl and liked it. At work, I was allowed to install a major Linux distro. I choose Gentoo at first, couldn't make it work (reliably) with the hardware, and converted back to Ubuntu. Except for a brief stint with Fedora (and OSS) when PulseAudio shipped and I was required to have working audio for voicemails, I've been fairly faithful.
That works well... right up until the time that Oracle sues the pants off of you. The problem is that Android is based on Apache's Harmony JVM. Which just about everybody other than Google distancing themselves from, most importantly IBM - they've been fans for 5 years now.
Java the language may be free, but Java the VM and Java the Classpaths are less so. I believe that Sun said they'd never act on their patent portfolio and harm the community. Oracle is the total opposite.
Impulse has a (perhaps) IE based client which requires.NET 2.0 and doesn't work at all on Wine - to the best of my knowledge. Their DRM ranges from none to GOO (Internet activation required on first play) to Impulse::Reactor (I guess you can download it from the web and activate with GOO). Their DRM seems comparable to STEAM, but I don't believe it'll block you from playing if there is an Impulse update.
As for transparency, FrogBoy is a head honcho (CEO?) and can be seen frequently pontificating on the Stardock forums. So if you want to know what direction their headed, you can get a feel from his comments.
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Dude, he was doing coke on top of his backup CDs - he doesn't sound like the sharpest tool in the shed.
I'm guessing this happened before Flash Gordon's time. Who knew that 40's pulp sci-fi was based on facts?
I have to disagree with you. Free-To-Play is the ultimate DRM. Your game only exists as long as that game cloud is running. As soon as it becomes unprofitable, they'll pull the plug in a heartbeat. Just like that, your game is gone.
From the publisher's point of view, this is the best possible solution. Turn everything into MMORPG, MMORTS, or MMOFPS and start raking in the dough. As soon as v2 comes out, pull the plug on v1. Or better yet, make expansion1 that makes those playing the vanilla version lose every time. I can see more powerful guns in FPS-type games (like the Double-Barrel shotgun in Doom2), more powerful units in RTS games (like Krogoth in Total Annihilation:Core Contingency), and Monty-Haul Loot Drops (TM) in MMORPGs (like Dust of Disappearance in Curse of the Azure Bonds - that stuff rocked!)
Point is - I can still play Curse of the Azure Bonds more than 20 years after it was made. Yes, I still have a floppy drive in my computer, and an emulator is required. The Free-To-Plays will probably last 5, perhaps 15 if they are a runaway success. Future generations may not have access to them. Now where did that Adventurer's Journal run off to, I need to read Entry 37.
Don't forget Nesticle_Love's fast running, arcade stomping big brother, Callus_Love. He loved those Capcom games, back in the day. We should also have some consideration for Callus' cousin, Retrocade_Love. She was easy on the eyes - too bad she stopped running when Windows became an eXPerience instead of a year. She's really let herself go.
Ah - a copy of Lost, I take it. I hope your ending was better than the writer's.
Actually, I think Unreal Tournament (UT99) had an online ranking system (based on a DB) somewhere in the 2000s. Any UT players out there that can confirm this? It was called something like ngWorldStats, but my memory could be wrong.
Not for $250,000, no. Might be worth a Netflix stream, though.
The day I need my phone number in a phone book to look is the day I hang it up.
As for the CC/waitress example - the law (and the CC industry) takes a dim view of waitresses that charge themselves a little something extra with your card.
Here, now. They actually intended those drives to be used in desktop computers. As such, they used a bearing oil that would degrade if it was used longer than 8 hrs a day, likely as a cost saving measure. That was their defense, at least. Shortly after that, they sold their drive division to Hitatchi.
Well, at least when you sued, they weren't trying to chop you up with a big Golden Axe.
So, you get close to the gun turret and you hear this: "Please leave the DMZ. You have 20 seconds to comply." You begin leaving the DMZ, but 15 seconds later the is still chasing you. "You have 5 seconds to comply. Four... three... two... one... I am now authorized to use physical force!" So, these are named ED-209, right? Wonder what happens to wildlife? How about kids? If the thing is programmed to avoid kids, does that mean little people get a free pass, too?
When did the Godfather get involved in politics?
I've been to a church in this area that doesn't even let the laity handle the collection plates. They are affixed with long poles that the ushers keep a tight grip on. A church that doesn't touch it's congregation? Odd.
I've installed a 16G Compact Flash drive into a Powerbook G3 Bronze Keyboard (Pismo) with a CF to IDE adapter. Works great, and I did it for $30 a year ago. I'm sure they make CF to SATA bridges by now.
Great! Where can I get my BigFoot (5.25 form factor, 1/3 height) SSD for 1/2 to 1/3 of the regular SSD cost?
NTFS support symlinks. In Linux, anyway.
I'm still not quite sure how this cult of ubuntu came about, don't get me wrong there's nothing wrong with another distro, but people seem to think they do more than they actually do.
Actually, I think the Cult of Ubuntu came about with their Free CD project. I know one day, after being frustrated with Gentoo, I gave Ubuntu a whirl and liked it. At work, I was allowed to install a major Linux distro. I choose Gentoo at first, couldn't make it work (reliably) with the hardware, and converted back to Ubuntu. Except for a brief stint with Fedora (and OSS) when PulseAudio shipped and I was required to have working audio for voicemails, I've been fairly faithful.
So there's where the CoU comes from - free swag.
No no no. COBOL.NET. What? It's not a joke? Dude!
Java the language may be free, but Java the VM and Java the Classpaths are less so. I believe that Sun said they'd never act on their patent portfolio and harm the community. Oracle is the total opposite.
The announcement of the release or upcoming release would actually be FP worthy.
I actually read that as FTP worthy and had to do a double take.
Hey, do you work at the local precinct? Their SSID is FBI-09 (on WiFi channel 9, of course).
Your mom!?
Yes. And while we're at it, the NSA Chief would like a pony to go with his Internet Mk2, please.
Impulse has a (perhaps) IE based client which requires .NET 2.0 and doesn't work at all on Wine - to the best of my knowledge. Their DRM ranges from none to GOO (Internet activation required on first play) to Impulse::Reactor (I guess you can download it from the web and activate with GOO). Their DRM seems comparable to STEAM, but I don't believe it'll block you from playing if there is an Impulse update.
As for transparency, FrogBoy is a head honcho (CEO?) and can be seen frequently pontificating on the Stardock forums. So if you want to know what direction their headed, you can get a feel from his comments.
Don't forget about TheHumbleGuys, Fairlight, CoRe, USA (and the NotSoHumbleBabe), INC, and Drink or Die. They are still around, aren't they?