Williams: "Stephen, I'm sorry, but we are going with the second-place winner, 'Serenity', for the name of the module."
Colbert: "What? No! NASA, you're in for it! This is the last---"
Williams: "Hold on! We're naming the module Serenity. However, we recognize the value of democracy, and in order to respect the wishes of our voters, we will be naming the space-toilet itself 'Colbert.'"
Colbert: "My very own space toilet?"
Williams: "Yes. And from now on, NASA declares that all toilets in space will be referred to as 'colberts.'"
Colbert, wiping away a tear: "That's...I'm so honored. I've always wanted this. Let's hear it for NASA!"
I actually think one of the reasons why WoW is popular is precisely because it's mostly boring.
Imagine if the game were all about instances and non-stop PvP. You sign in and it's like, oh, Unreal Tournament. That's the fun stuff, right?
There's enough of that to "reward" you for playing. But of course, that's all spaced out over a lot of tedium. Most people playing WoW are bored most of the time they're on it.
The tedium is essential because it means you start getting attached to menial stuff. You go into guild chat and have SUPER-DRAMA over who gets which raid spot and why did that hunter roll on that shaman gear. The tedium is necessary, of course, as a step in the direction of uber-ness, to get your quest or your experience or your crafting materials or whatever. And so at first you tolerate it. And then you get used to it. And eventually you depend on it.
Like playing the slot machines; most of the time you lose, but you win often enough that you just have to keep putting in quarters.
As one who frequents it...frequently...the Washington Post comment section really is a cesspit. Imagine what you would get if the Slashdot mod system worked in reverse, and people were karma whores for "flamebait," "troll," and "offtopic" tags. It isn't 4chan. But it's amazing that it's on the same site as one of the country's most respectable news outlets.
Of course, Feaver's points would carry more weight if the boards were structured differently. For instance, if WaPo had nested threads instead of a flat message board, you might see more of the "correction" and "dialogue" between different posters than you otherwise do. As opposed to ranting, which is what happens when I...I mean, some person...stands on a soapbox without having dialogue. Empty flames cast into a void.
On the other hand, I'll say with a straight face that I think Slashdot has the best comment section around, if not for the quality of the posters themselves, then because it's good at suppressing and elevating voices based on the wisdom of crowds.
Sounds contrived. We need to do analyses on those Sqiddrigonian thingamajigs, to figure out their molecular structure and how to synthesize them. And machines are far more precise than humans; if mere human could do it, then a machine that takes sensory input and has a more accurate forging technique could do it much more easily. I'm not saying you couldn't do things that way, merely that I wouldn't really find it believable.
Now, alien artifacts could probably throw off the equation. And so could political restrictions on certain items. And so could economic decline/collapse. (Post-apocalyptics settings don't have the infrastructure to build, and must scavenge.) This thread actually gave me an idea for a campaign using all of those.
Quite possible. I would submit that attitude also plays a role. Traditional fantasy settings have a romantic, epic scope. There's a much more clearly-defined line between Good and Evil, which simplifies the morality issues of killing and looting various denizens of said realm. Fantasy societies tend to be (although they don't have to be) more wild and unregulated than science fiction settings.
And of course, fantasy more often celebrates the "epic hero" who kicks ass and takes names (Beowulf, Ajax, Merlin) as opposed to science fiction's more mortal protagonists. There's less opportunity for character advancement, since so much of the escapism is based on technology. A level 20 wizard has access to crazy spells that the lowbies could only dream of and is decked out in arcane accessories presumably lifted from some dragon somewhere. A level 20 space ship pilot is just a better pilot, perhaps one with a better space ship, which any lowbie with cash could simply walk into a store and buy.
And fantasy makes running the game easier. You can just randomly make stuff up and fit it into the game with a mere explanation that, "It's magic." Sci-fi technologies more often need to be explained, since they can be mass-produced, etc.
I think covering actual, horrifying events requires a much more nuanced and subtle touch than you find in most video games. When I watch Kill Bill, I munch down on popcorn; if that stuff were real or "based on a true story," I'd probably throw up.
On the other hand, I think there's a lot riding on this, because if they do manage to pull it off tastefully, then they may finally push video games across that elusive boundary between pop culture and art.
Read it a third time. If a game company comes out with an English version of a game and then a French version later, the retailer can stock the English version while there's no French version, but once the French version comes out, they either have to buy French version copies or take the English version off the shelves.
So it causes headaches, but not the ones you're thinking.
Yeah, but the problem is that you're "the defense." As in, the best you can hope for is to deflect an attack (while spending $$$ in legal defense). Whereas the worst the plaintiff/prosecution realistically needs to worry about is that their attack fails (while spending $$$ from a much larger stash).
Now, if being an asshole were a crime, I wouldn't worry so much. "Your Honor, the defendant would like to press charges against opposing counsel for first-degree douchebaggery." Ah, but I dream.
Slashdot Mirror
I dunno, shipping that doesn't come in covered wagons?
Witchcraft, demons, and bad karma.
When the Canadian Space Agency starts naming its stuff after Canadian comedians, you can call it a sense of "humour."
(The same doesn't go both ways. We're cultural imperialists, remember?)
That is exactly what I thought. Especially when the company is named after a DC suburb.
I expect it to go like this:
Williams: "Stephen, I'm sorry, but we are going with the second-place winner, 'Serenity', for the name of the module."
Colbert: "What? No! NASA, you're in for it! This is the last---"
Williams: "Hold on! We're naming the module Serenity. However, we recognize the value of democracy, and in order to respect the wishes of our voters, we will be naming the space-toilet itself 'Colbert.'"
Colbert: "My very own space toilet?"
Williams: "Yes. And from now on, NASA declares that all toilets in space will be referred to as 'colberts.'"
Colbert, wiping away a tear: "That's...I'm so honored. I've always wanted this. Let's hear it for NASA!"
I actually think one of the reasons why WoW is popular is precisely because it's mostly boring.
Imagine if the game were all about instances and non-stop PvP. You sign in and it's like, oh, Unreal Tournament. That's the fun stuff, right?
There's enough of that to "reward" you for playing. But of course, that's all spaced out over a lot of tedium. Most people playing WoW are bored most of the time they're on it.
The tedium is essential because it means you start getting attached to menial stuff. You go into guild chat and have SUPER-DRAMA over who gets which raid spot and why did that hunter roll on that shaman gear. The tedium is necessary, of course, as a step in the direction of uber-ness, to get your quest or your experience or your crafting materials or whatever. And so at first you tolerate it. And then you get used to it. And eventually you depend on it.
Like playing the slot machines; most of the time you lose, but you win often enough that you just have to keep putting in quarters.
As one who frequents it...frequently...the Washington Post comment section really is a cesspit. Imagine what you would get if the Slashdot mod system worked in reverse, and people were karma whores for "flamebait," "troll," and "offtopic" tags. It isn't 4chan. But it's amazing that it's on the same site as one of the country's most respectable news outlets.
Of course, Feaver's points would carry more weight if the boards were structured differently. For instance, if WaPo had nested threads instead of a flat message board, you might see more of the "correction" and "dialogue" between different posters than you otherwise do. As opposed to ranting, which is what happens when I...I mean, some person...stands on a soapbox without having dialogue. Empty flames cast into a void.
On the other hand, I'll say with a straight face that I think Slashdot has the best comment section around, if not for the quality of the posters themselves, then because it's good at suppressing and elevating voices based on the wisdom of crowds.
But yet I go back there again and again...
Well, I've just started with C++, but what I can say is that with C, I can't imagine feature-creep being a major problem.
"Hey, maybe I should write a dingo that does a whatsitmacalled that only 0.3% of users will ever want. ...wait, I've got to write it in C?
SOFTWARE BLOAT IS EVIL!"
I was going to say, try playing a game of international politics with a defense strategy from...
Oh, that's right. It's not a fucking game.
Sounds contrived. We need to do analyses on those Sqiddrigonian thingamajigs, to figure out their molecular structure and how to synthesize them. And machines are far more precise than humans; if mere human could do it, then a machine that takes sensory input and has a more accurate forging technique could do it much more easily. I'm not saying you couldn't do things that way, merely that I wouldn't really find it believable.
Now, alien artifacts could probably throw off the equation. And so could political restrictions on certain items. And so could economic decline/collapse. (Post-apocalyptics settings don't have the infrastructure to build, and must scavenge.) This thread actually gave me an idea for a campaign using all of those.
Quite possible. I would submit that attitude also plays a role. Traditional fantasy settings have a romantic, epic scope. There's a much more clearly-defined line between Good and Evil, which simplifies the morality issues of killing and looting various denizens of said realm. Fantasy societies tend to be (although they don't have to be) more wild and unregulated than science fiction settings.
And of course, fantasy more often celebrates the "epic hero" who kicks ass and takes names (Beowulf, Ajax, Merlin) as opposed to science fiction's more mortal protagonists. There's less opportunity for character advancement, since so much of the escapism is based on technology. A level 20 wizard has access to crazy spells that the lowbies could only dream of and is decked out in arcane accessories presumably lifted from some dragon somewhere. A level 20 space ship pilot is just a better pilot, perhaps one with a better space ship, which any lowbie with cash could simply walk into a store and buy.
And fantasy makes running the game easier. You can just randomly make stuff up and fit it into the game with a mere explanation that, "It's magic." Sci-fi technologies more often need to be explained, since they can be mass-produced, etc.
Well, you don't need a television, what with the Internet and all.
Like this.
I suppose they stood outside the White House holding blown-up printouts of Goatse.
I think covering actual, horrifying events requires a much more nuanced and subtle touch than you find in most video games. When I watch Kill Bill, I munch down on popcorn; if that stuff were real or "based on a true story," I'd probably throw up.
On the other hand, I think there's a lot riding on this, because if they do manage to pull it off tastefully, then they may finally push video games across that elusive boundary between pop culture and art.
I think the point of Playboy is the do-it-yourself ethic.
If you take visitors into your country and jail them for speaking their minds, you probably deserve whatever it is they said about you.
My kingdom for a mod point.
Thanks. I appreciate your support.
Answer: because I wanted to make sure I wasn't the only one who was thinking, "who cares?"
I was going to say, "we can do all of that!" But you ruined it.
Read it a third time. If a game company comes out with an English version of a game and then a French version later, the retailer can stock the English version while there's no French version, but once the French version comes out, they either have to buy French version copies or take the English version off the shelves.
So it causes headaches, but not the ones you're thinking.
Yeah, but the problem is that you're "the defense." As in, the best you can hope for is to deflect an attack (while spending $$$ in legal defense). Whereas the worst the plaintiff/prosecution realistically needs to worry about is that their attack fails (while spending $$$ from a much larger stash).
Now, if being an asshole were a crime, I wouldn't worry so much. "Your Honor, the defendant would like to press charges against opposing counsel for first-degree douchebaggery." Ah, but I dream.
You've finally discovered what Step 2 is!!!
The link is to WaPo. I think they're a bit stodgy to be playing April Fools jokes. And if they did, it would be geared toward a more general audience.
Stop referring to them as "colours." They're coleverybody's.