But a vast majority of people I know feel the urge to complete every single last achievement, even if it means them sitting there getting more and more stressed out because they can't get it.
People are easily compelled to try and "compete" against things to beat them, it's the same mechanic that leaves people playing games like World of Warcraft for hours upon hours even if they're not enjoying it.
Most people on Slashdot will probably have not experienced this, I expect other people here are like me and will realise that we're not enjoying something and stop doing it, other people might not.
I would disagree, I rescently played the game "Indigo Prophecy" also known as "Fahrenheit" in the US. Even though the plot is a bit ridiculous I loved it, and the ending I got (I presume there was multiple endings) was also less than satisfactory but overall I really enjoyed it.
Due to my young age I've never really played any of the older games which I've heard included a lot of "interactive novels" depending on what you define one as. I'd love to try a few more of these games in this style, it makes a nice change from other types of game.
If you haven't heard of a game called Braid, I'd recommend it to anyone.
The main creator has a very strong view on gaming ethics, things like achievements shouldn't really exist.
People will endure a long time of unenjoyable playtime just to get an achievement, the creator of Braid thinks players should just be having fun at every moment of the game just from game mechanics.
Another great game I'd recommend is World of Goo, everyone that I've introduced to it has fell in love with it.
Well I wouldn't put it past them that they would log all the data, and as soon as anyone requested it they would probably hand it over to them without a question.
I don't know if they still are involved with Phorm, but logging your downloads doesn't seem past their moral boundaries.
Well if Virgin own the server, I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard for them to log everything you download, that is if I'm not misunderstanding how these things work.
Bear in mind that the takedown requests are based on the "Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act (OCILLA)" and is a law in the United States and should therefore have no legal basis in another country.
I'm 99% sure that the license is for the ability to watch live TV, so watching BBC iPlayer on the internet doesn't count as it is being watched after the live broadcast.
I think it's more to do with pricing games differently in different markets.
There was a huge issue with people buying games from Russia (or getting someone else to and then give them the cd-key) and then registering them on Steam.
Prices may be like 50% cheaper in Russia I don't know, but Steam decided to crack down on it to allow them to continue selling games to growing markets at a prices the market can afford.
I forgot to add that though there is less negative affects leeching from Rapidshare, there is a benefit to uploading (as it gets you free premium time if you get enough downloads from your files).
While on bit-torrent (at least on public trackers) there is little positive motivation for yourself to upload.
But p2p traffic also usually means that you are also uploading.
I'm not sure if you're referencing Rapidshare as as P2P, but it's pretty much the polar opposite.
People generally only download when using rapidshare, as 'leeching' has significantly less negative affects on the community than it does in a bit-torrent community.
Privatization isn't always in the best interest, this case is a perfect example.
The reason these people don't have internet at the moment is that the telephone/internet service providers don't find them to be profitable and therefore won't spend money to get them connected.
This is exactly why the government is investing that money to get them connected, at which point the ISPs can make money off them.
Slashdot Mirror
But a vast majority of people I know feel the urge to complete every single last achievement, even if it means them sitting there getting more and more stressed out because they can't get it.
People are easily compelled to try and "compete" against things to beat them, it's the same mechanic that leaves people playing games like World of Warcraft for hours upon hours even if they're not enjoying it.
Most people on Slashdot will probably have not experienced this, I expect other people here are like me and will realise that we're not enjoying something and stop doing it, other people might not.
I would disagree, I rescently played the game "Indigo Prophecy" also known as "Fahrenheit" in the US. Even though the plot is a bit ridiculous I loved it, and the ending I got (I presume there was multiple endings) was also less than satisfactory but overall I really enjoyed it.
Due to my young age I've never really played any of the older games which I've heard included a lot of "interactive novels" depending on what you define one as. I'd love to try a few more of these games in this style, it makes a nice change from other types of game.
If you haven't heard of a game called Braid, I'd recommend it to anyone.
The main creator has a very strong view on gaming ethics, things like achievements shouldn't really exist.
People will endure a long time of unenjoyable playtime just to get an achievement, the creator of Braid thinks players should just be having fun at every moment of the game just from game mechanics.
Another great game I'd recommend is World of Goo, everyone that I've introduced to it has fell in love with it.
Well capital letters are bigger, it's only logical that you can fit less of them in a tube.
I don't know about Firefox users but with Opera's adblock I get forwaded to an "adsblocked.html" when I try and access zShare:
http://zshare.net/
Oh for reference I'm using Fanboy's Opera Adblock List, which you can find here:
http://www.fanboy.co.nz/adblock/opera/
Generally I trust an Anonymous person on the internet, to not fuck up my PC, more than a real company.
And the sad thing is I'm not even kidding.
Well I wouldn't put it past them that they would log all the data, and as soon as anyone requested it they would probably hand it over to them without a question.
I don't know if they still are involved with Phorm, but logging your downloads doesn't seem past their moral boundaries.
I should probably take my tin foil hat off.
Well if Virgin own the server, I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard for them to log everything you download, that is if I'm not misunderstanding how these things work.
Your ISP probably already provides a news feed [..]
Really?
How many ISPs actually have a feed set up, let alone anything more than just text.
I only know of a single ISP that provides a news server in the UK, that Virgin Media but I don't know anyone that trusts it.
Bear in mind that the takedown requests are based on the "Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act (OCILLA)" and is a law in the United States and should therefore have no legal basis in another country.
You type faster than you can think, so your fingers have the ability to predict what you're going to write?
Awesome!
You think Peer Guardian protects you in anyway at all?
Ha!
Oh and what was that about private trackers being safe?
See here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/tees/7057812.stm
I'm 99% sure that the license is for the ability to watch live TV, so watching BBC iPlayer on the internet doesn't count as it is being watched after the live broadcast.
I'm amazed at the shear blatentess of your puns.
Well I expect they'll be carrying sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads.
I'd say that's pretty laden for a penguin.
How can someone else prove that you conciously pressed that button?
Generally would the burdon of proof be on yourself or them?
Opera has an inbuilt Adblock, Flashblock and NoScript.
I can't say the same about YouTube video downloaders, but I just use the Opera Cache viewer to get the .flv files anyway.
I think it's more to do with pricing games differently in different markets.
There was a huge issue with people buying games from Russia (or getting someone else to and then give them the cd-key) and then registering them on Steam.
Prices may be like 50% cheaper in Russia I don't know, but Steam decided to crack down on it to allow them to continue selling games to growing markets at a prices the market can afford.
A genuine question, how do you water your garden if it's covered in plastic?
You must be new here.
You can't outrun a laser.
I forgot to add that though there is less negative affects leeching from Rapidshare, there is a benefit to uploading (as it gets you free premium time if you get enough downloads from your files).
While on bit-torrent (at least on public trackers) there is little positive motivation for yourself to upload.
So I guess overall it sort of balances out.
But p2p traffic also usually means that you are also uploading.
I'm not sure if you're referencing Rapidshare as as P2P, but it's pretty much the polar opposite.
People generally only download when using rapidshare, as 'leeching' has significantly less negative affects on the community than it does in a bit-torrent community.
Privatization isn't always in the best interest, this case is a perfect example.
The reason these people don't have internet at the moment is that the telephone/internet service providers don't find them to be profitable and therefore won't spend money to get them connected.
This is exactly why the government is investing that money to get them connected, at which point the ISPs can make money off them.
You can still pay for private healthcare, Bupa is a prime example of this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bupa
And if you've got enough money to afford private health care, the tax that pays for the public health care probably isn't a big dent in your paycheck.