The original poster specifically referred to "comics in American newspapers." Have you ever read newspaper comics? The one I linked to is perfectly typical of them. You're referring to comic books, which are a different medium altogether.
I know all about 100F and negligible humidity, thank you ; my fees start at £450/day, be that in the field or in what is laughingly called civilisation. Given that it's America, not Saudi or the rest of The Gulf, I could probably be persuaded to not laugh at proposals of less than £600/day, but that's not an explicit or explicit acceptance of contract until I see the details. On one hand, enough people get killed by the natives there, but on the other hand, you do have interesting pore pressure situations.
Wow, what are you going on about? I don't really know or care about whatever sort of "fees" or "contracts" you have, and I was joking about the weather.
For what it's worth, the flip side to the hot, dry summers where I live is that there are virtually no natural disasters (earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, etc.), and the winters are very mild; it rarely drops below freezing, and things like ice and snow are almost never a problem. Of course, keep in mind that Texas is large enough (larger than many European countries!) that there's quite a bit of variance in weather across it. Come on, lighten up.
I'm pretty sure I live, but thanks for asking.;-) Contrary to the stereotype that the rest of the world has about Texas, it's really a pretty nice place, as long as you don't mind weeks in a row in the summer where it's dry and the temperature is over 100 (Fahrenheit).
No, they'll probably have Office Texas 2009, which is like Office 2007, except that it has the XML stuff cut out, and a new language code added: en_TX
Man, that'd be great! Then we'd have things like a helpful paperclip who says, "Y'all need some help with that there letter?" Also, we'll get an official dictionary that has useful words like "y'all", "ain't", and "fixins".
How do adoption agencies make you feel? Does it sicken you when they try to find a home for a child that nobody else wants?
Of course, on the other hand, how would you feel about an organization that picks specific people to breed in order to create children with the desired traits so that those children could be sold to the highest bidders?
Right now, blizzards asks for you to open/forward ports from the outside interface to the PC in question
Uh, no they don't. It's entirely possible for multiple people behind a LAN to play Starcraft, Diablo II, and World of Warcraft on Battle.net without forwarding any ports at all, and those are just the games that I personally have played. Forwarding ports is only necessary if you are going to host a server on your LAN and want people from the outside world to connect to it.
I would reboot Final Fantasy and make many of the characters less cheesy.
If you think the characters are cheesy, that's one thing, but why do you think this needs a "reboot"? What does "reboot" even mean here, given that almost every game has nothing to do with any of the other games in the series?
I would also make the subject matter a bit darker
Which FF game are you talking about? A number of the FF games have had fairly dark plots underneath their superficially colorful graphics; FF6, Tactics, 10, and 12 all come to mind immediately.
the interactions more free form
So... you want the series to basically stop being like a Japanese RPG and be more like a Western RPG?
I think it would also be nice to have a non-turn-based combat option.
FF 4 through 9, 11, and 12 all fit that bill. If you didn't mean "turn-based" but actually meant, "I want a battle system where characters don't line up in rows and swing at each other", there's still 11 and 12.
I could be wrong, but it sounds like you're basing your opinion of the entire series off of just one or two of the games.
More efficient I can accept as a metric, though I'd question whether Windows 7 is more efficient than XP, given that it drops app performance by about 20% compared to the older Microsoft OS. More powerful though, what does that mean?
The problem I have with seeing the "Windows 7 got me excited about Microsoft OSs" catchphrase all over the web is that it isn't an exciting OS. It's a minor upgrade/bugfix to Vista, which was a very mundane business-grade OS.
You're dodging my question. I don't care whether you think Windows 7 is better than previous versions of Windows or not, and I won't bother arguing because I'm sure nothing I can say will change your mind.
Your assertion was, "Your OS shouldn't be exciting," as though you saying that somehow completely invalidates the opinion of anybody who describes a new OS as "exciting." Why shouldn't an OS be exciting? Pretend I'm talking about a new desktop Linux distribution that promises to boot up in less than a second and use 1/2 the memory of your current distro, if that helps.
You know, I've seen this phrase pop up from a lot of people, I'm sure only some of them all shills. Your OS shouldn't be exciting, it's just a platform to launch a tool on, and those tools are increasingly more platform-agnostic.
I'll bite -- why shouldn't an OS be exciting? I spend a lot of time using the OS to launch programs, manipulate running programs, and shuffle files around. Those are just pretty normal user tasks; power users also get to spend time controlling user accounts, managing permissions, directly interacting with hardware, and sometimes even using the operating system's API to write programs.
If an OS comes along that can do those tasks in ways that are more efficient or more powerful than previous editions of the operating system, why shouldn't I be excited?
True, but that's not really an issue if you're using the mouse on a reasonably low-friction surface.
and they have the added lag of the wireless signal
RF signals move at the speed of light. There is no lag due to the signal. Heck, the distance from my mouse to the receiver is probably shorter than the length of your typical cord. If you encounter any lag while using a wireless mouse, it's because of bad drivers or hardware.
And every now and then you lose the synchronization.
If you're using a Bluetooth mouse with flakey drivers, maybe. I've never seen any of Logitech's RF wireless mice lose synchronization. Neither of the mice I have even have "sync" buttons on them; the mouse and receiver are locked to each other.
Unless they are totally lying in the actual interview, that's footage of the game engine, not FMV. Sure, it's probably scripted rather than a video of somebody actually playing, but you can still expect the actual game to look like that.
Why not? I've got a Logitech MX620 at home and an LX8 at work, and both of them are precise, have lots of programmable buttons, and are lag free. And they both get a good 6-8 months on a single set of batteries.
I'm especially glad they went back to the Clans, as they had the more interesting mechs and backstory.
That's not quite right -- the game is being set in 3015, which is before the Clan invasion, and so it's unlikely you'll see any Clan technology in the game.
What, did computer technology get lost in the intervening years?
Actually, yes; in the BattleTech universe, centuries of warfare have caused the loss of quite a bit of scientific knowledge and technology. That's why Clan technology was so much more advanced than the Inner Sphere stuff.
MechWarrior is great and all but its often frustratingly slow controls makes it a snore fest.
I hope they improve on this major flaw. Its the one aspect of MechWarrior that hurt it.
No, that's exactly why many people loved the MechWarrior games so much. They (the good ones, at least), are not arcadey action games, they are giant robot combat simulators. Hundred-ton hunks of metal covered in weapons are not quick, agile acrobats; they are tanks with legs. The more realistic behavior of the mechs makes combat more about strategy and tactics than twitch reflexes.
If that's the kind of mech game you want, there are other ones out there that cater to you (ZoE). Please don't try to change MechWarrior into something it's not.
Infact I just looked at my stats for June. Guess what browser was #1 and was probably ATLEAST 50% of the hits (also including bots)? IE 5!
Holy crap, IE5? You know that Windows XP came with IE6 installed as the default browser, right? What kind of site do you run, a Windows 98 driver repository?
You know that this isn't the first time Blizzard has lowered mount requirements, right? It sounds like/you're/ one of the "noobs" who hasn't paid your "dues in sweat." Real men got their mounts at level 40 and paid 90 gold just for the riding skill. Except Tauren, who couldn't even use mounts.
Or maybe -- just maybe -- players getting a land speed increase so they can get from 20 to 30 a little faster isn't the end of the fucking world. Let's face it, getting through those mid levels in Azeroth is boring as hell, especially now that the old zones are practically empty. The point is that Blizzard doesn't want players to dread spending hours doing things. If that's the kind of game you're looking for, maybe Final Fantasy XI is more your style?
The last link I posted has a chart of software that works with different iPods. There are a number of packages that work with the 2.x firmwares, and a couple that work with 3.x. Presumably more will work with 3.x as people have more time to implement it.
Should Mario just start at the stairs at the end of the level? Should Grand Theft Auto eliminate the driving aspect and take you to the site of the job?
There's a bit of a difference here. In Super Mario Bros., getting from point A to point B is the fun part. That's why people play the game. In MMORPGs, getting from point A to point B is just a chore you have to do before you can start having fun at point B -- and after you've run from A to B 30 times, it gets really tedious.
Haven't played in a while, have you? Since a couple of months ago, all the crags now have a Field Manual nearby, and if you've been earning tabs (usually you get 30-70 at a time), you can get sent home for 50 of them.
No, I quit over a year ago. That's nice, but that means you still have to find a WHM and pay him to send you there, then spend some more currency to actually get home.
Or you can just level WHM and BLM and warp yourself. It's not that hard to level BLM to 17, and if you don't know how to get 3 fame in Bastok by then for the spell quest, you might as well just give up and gb2wow.
That's nice, but if you're out in the middle of nowhere, how are you going to change your class to WHM or BLM so that you can teleport? Are you going to set BLM as your sub and let everybody else make fun of your gimpy subjob just so you can warp home for free? And if you're at home and want to go somewhere, sure, you can teleport yourself 10 minutes away by switching to WHM, but then how are you going to switch over to the job you actually want to play as?
You can do that in FFXI too. Just tap on the shoulder of any nearby monster, and it will helpfully kill you so you can go back to your home point. (If you're level 3 or less, you don't even lose XP.) The most extreme case I've seen is someone who used a Venom Potion to warp out of a crafting guild.
Yeah, no XP loss if you're 3 or less. Are you honestly suggesting that going out, getting in a fight with something that can kill you, and then losing a stack of XP is a reasonable way to just get home? Seriously? Let alone suggesting that you can poison yourself until you die and then warp home. Step back and take a look at that. That's ludicrous. And this is in a game in which losing XP can make you delevel and thus lose access to your shiny new spells and equipment, just for anybody reading this who hasn't played FFXI.
Look, I played FFXI for years. I understand how playing it makes you want to tell players of other MMORPGs how hardcore you are and how putting up with constant inconveniences makes your game better. As somehow who plays WoW now, I can confirm that it is a much easier game. I just want to have fun, though, and jumping through multiple flaming hoops just so I can get to the place where I want to play is not fun.
All of those are much more expensive and slower than anything in WoW.
crag teleport points (ask a white mage)
First you have to have been to the crag, then you have to find a white mage who will teleport you, then you pay the white mage, and then you pay for a chocobo and ride for ten minutes to get to town. Outpost warps are similar, except you can only go back and forth between your home city, and you have to be at least a minimum level and there are no chocobos nearby, and you're out of luck if beastmen control the zone. So you get to run even longer and aggro some monsters while you're at it! Then for boats and airships, you have to deal with their schedule, which may require sitting around for several minutes until they arrive and then several more minutes to get where you want to go. Oh, and you have to have done at least the rank 5 mission to use the airship. That's all a lot of work. Let's not forget that all of these cost money -- and a few hundred gil is a significant amount for lower-level players.
Have you played WoW? Every single character can warp to their home point from level 1, and it's free. No need to beg a black mage for Warp II or farm for scrolls of warp. Every zone in the game has at least one or two flight points in it; after you've visited one once, its node is entered into your network of flight points, and you can fly between any two points on a given continent for what amounts to spare change. There are free zeppelins/boats that go between continents quickly. No level requirement, no need to beg other players for help. Also, you can mount up and ride anywhere -- no need to pay exorbitant prices every time for time-limited chocobos or do a quest line to raise your own. And at higher levels you can get flying mounts, so you can just soar above any terrain and monsters inbetween you and your destination. And after the initial purchase, repeated uses are free! Oh, and mages can teleport directly to any of the larger cities, plus warlocks can summon people to their location, and engineers can build teleporters that go directly to certain cities...
Yes, I've played both of them. FFXI is "far, far worse" than WoW in that while it has transportation, every means of transportation it has is much slower and more expensive.
Slashdot Mirror
The original poster specifically referred to "comics in American newspapers." Have you ever read newspaper comics? The one I linked to is perfectly typical of them. You're referring to comic books, which are a different medium altogether.
Yes, anime is incredibly disproportionate compared to American comics.
Are you serious?
I know all about 100F and negligible humidity, thank you ; my fees start at £450/day, be that in the field or in what is laughingly called civilisation. Given that it's America, not Saudi or the rest of The Gulf, I could probably be persuaded to not laugh at proposals of less than £600/day, but that's not an explicit or explicit acceptance of contract until I see the details. On one hand, enough people get killed by the natives there, but on the other hand, you do have interesting pore pressure situations.
Wow, what are you going on about? I don't really know or care about whatever sort of "fees" or "contracts" you have, and I was joking about the weather.
For what it's worth, the flip side to the hot, dry summers where I live is that there are virtually no natural disasters (earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, etc.), and the winters are very mild; it rarely drops below freezing, and things like ice and snow are almost never a problem. Of course, keep in mind that Texas is large enough (larger than many European countries!) that there's quite a bit of variance in weather across it. Come on, lighten up.
you "live", or do you merely exist.
I'm pretty sure I live, but thanks for asking. ;-) Contrary to the stereotype that the rest of the world has about Texas, it's really a pretty nice place, as long as you don't mind weeks in a row in the summer where it's dry and the temperature is over 100 (Fahrenheit).
No, they'll probably have Office Texas 2009, which is like Office 2007, except that it has the XML stuff cut out, and a new language code added: en_TX
Man, that'd be great! Then we'd have things like a helpful paperclip who says, "Y'all need some help with that there letter?" Also, we'll get an official dictionary that has useful words like "y'all", "ain't", and "fixins".
(disclaimer: I live in Texas)
How do adoption agencies make you feel? Does it sicken you when they try to find a home for a child that nobody else wants?
Of course, on the other hand, how would you feel about an organization that picks specific people to breed in order to create children with the desired traits so that those children could be sold to the highest bidders?
They also need zoom bars for some of the small fonts combines with 30" monitors...
Hold Ctrl and scroll your mouse wheel.
Right now, blizzards asks for you to open/forward ports from the outside interface to the PC in question
Uh, no they don't. It's entirely possible for multiple people behind a LAN to play Starcraft, Diablo II, and World of Warcraft on Battle.net without forwarding any ports at all, and those are just the games that I personally have played. Forwarding ports is only necessary if you are going to host a server on your LAN and want people from the outside world to connect to it.
I would reboot Final Fantasy and make many of the characters less cheesy.
If you think the characters are cheesy, that's one thing, but why do you think this needs a "reboot"? What does "reboot" even mean here, given that almost every game has nothing to do with any of the other games in the series?
I would also make the subject matter a bit darker
Which FF game are you talking about? A number of the FF games have had fairly dark plots underneath their superficially colorful graphics; FF6, Tactics, 10, and 12 all come to mind immediately.
the interactions more free form
So... you want the series to basically stop being like a Japanese RPG and be more like a Western RPG?
I think it would also be nice to have a non-turn-based combat option.
FF 4 through 9, 11, and 12 all fit that bill. If you didn't mean "turn-based" but actually meant, "I want a battle system where characters don't line up in rows and swing at each other", there's still 11 and 12.
I could be wrong, but it sounds like you're basing your opinion of the entire series off of just one or two of the games.
More efficient I can accept as a metric, though I'd question whether Windows 7 is more efficient than XP, given that it drops app performance by about 20% compared to the older Microsoft OS. More powerful though, what does that mean?
The problem I have with seeing the "Windows 7 got me excited about Microsoft OSs" catchphrase all over the web is that it isn't an exciting OS. It's a minor upgrade/bugfix to Vista, which was a very mundane business-grade OS.
You're dodging my question. I don't care whether you think Windows 7 is better than previous versions of Windows or not, and I won't bother arguing because I'm sure nothing I can say will change your mind.
Your assertion was, "Your OS shouldn't be exciting," as though you saying that somehow completely invalidates the opinion of anybody who describes a new OS as "exciting." Why shouldn't an OS be exciting? Pretend I'm talking about a new desktop Linux distribution that promises to boot up in less than a second and use 1/2 the memory of your current distro, if that helps.
You know, I've seen this phrase pop up from a lot of people, I'm sure only some of them all shills. Your OS shouldn't be exciting, it's just a platform to launch a tool on, and those tools are increasingly more platform-agnostic.
I'll bite -- why shouldn't an OS be exciting? I spend a lot of time using the OS to launch programs, manipulate running programs, and shuffle files around. Those are just pretty normal user tasks; power users also get to spend time controlling user accounts, managing permissions, directly interacting with hardware, and sometimes even using the operating system's API to write programs.
If an OS comes along that can do those tasks in ways that are more efficient or more powerful than previous editions of the operating system, why shouldn't I be excited?
Wireless mouse are heavier
True, but that's not really an issue if you're using the mouse on a reasonably low-friction surface.
and they have the added lag of the wireless signal
RF signals move at the speed of light. There is no lag due to the signal. Heck, the distance from my mouse to the receiver is probably shorter than the length of your typical cord. If you encounter any lag while using a wireless mouse, it's because of bad drivers or hardware.
And every now and then you lose the synchronization.
If you're using a Bluetooth mouse with flakey drivers, maybe. I've never seen any of Logitech's RF wireless mice lose synchronization. Neither of the mice I have even have "sync" buttons on them; the mouse and receiver are locked to each other.
Unless they are totally lying in the actual interview, that's footage of the game engine, not FMV. Sure, it's probably scripted rather than a video of somebody actually playing, but you can still expect the actual game to look like that.
Its all sci fi. Why cant the robots be agile?
Because, if "It's all sci-fi", why can't the robots be ten million light years tall and capable of altering probability and creating matter? That's super cool and all, but it doesn't fit in with the BattleTech universe.
An M1 Abrams tank is quite fast in real life because mobility is just as important as armor and shelling targets. It needs to move!
They can move quickly once they get going, but they're far from agile. What you want is an M1 Abrams tank that maneuvers like a motorcycle.
Since this is Sci Fi, cant we have it both ways?
Because the target audience here thinks that's not fun.
Do not use wireless if you need reliability.
Why not? I've got a Logitech MX620 at home and an LX8 at work, and both of them are precise, have lots of programmable buttons, and are lag free. And they both get a good 6-8 months on a single set of batteries.
I'm especially glad they went back to the Clans, as they had the more interesting mechs and backstory.
That's not quite right -- the game is being set in 3015, which is before the Clan invasion, and so it's unlikely you'll see any Clan technology in the game.
What, did computer technology get lost in the intervening years?
Actually, yes; in the BattleTech universe, centuries of warfare have caused the loss of quite a bit of scientific knowledge and technology. That's why Clan technology was so much more advanced than the Inner Sphere stuff.
MechWarrior is great and all but its often frustratingly slow controls makes it a snore fest.
I hope they improve on this major flaw. Its the one aspect of MechWarrior that hurt it.
No, that's exactly why many people loved the MechWarrior games so much. They (the good ones, at least), are not arcadey action games, they are giant robot combat simulators. Hundred-ton hunks of metal covered in weapons are not quick, agile acrobats; they are tanks with legs. The more realistic behavior of the mechs makes combat more about strategy and tactics than twitch reflexes.
If that's the kind of mech game you want, there are other ones out there that cater to you (ZoE). Please don't try to change MechWarrior into something it's not.
Infact I just looked at my stats for June. Guess what browser was #1 and was probably ATLEAST 50% of the hits (also including bots)? IE 5!
Holy crap, IE5? You know that Windows XP came with IE6 installed as the default browser, right? What kind of site do you run, a Windows 98 driver repository?
You know that this isn't the first time Blizzard has lowered mount requirements, right? It sounds like /you're/ one of the "noobs" who hasn't paid your "dues in sweat." Real men got their mounts at level 40 and paid 90 gold just for the riding skill. Except Tauren, who couldn't even use mounts.
Or maybe -- just maybe -- players getting a land speed increase so they can get from 20 to 30 a little faster isn't the end of the fucking world. Let's face it, getting through those mid levels in Azeroth is boring as hell, especially now that the old zones are practically empty. The point is that Blizzard doesn't want players to dread spending hours doing things. If that's the kind of game you're looking for, maybe Final Fantasy XI is more your style?
The last link I posted has a chart of software that works with different iPods. There are a number of packages that work with the 2.x firmwares, and a couple that work with 3.x. Presumably more will work with 3.x as people have more time to implement it.
Could you suggest a program I could use instead of iTunes?
Sorry, I'm stumped. :-(
I'm not quite sure what your point is. You don't need iTunes to put music on your iPod, either.
Should Mario just start at the stairs at the end of the level? Should Grand Theft Auto eliminate the driving aspect and take you to the site of the job?
There's a bit of a difference here. In Super Mario Bros., getting from point A to point B is the fun part. That's why people play the game. In MMORPGs, getting from point A to point B is just a chore you have to do before you can start having fun at point B -- and after you've run from A to B 30 times, it gets really tedious.
Haven't played in a while, have you? Since a couple of months ago, all the crags now have a Field Manual nearby, and if you've been earning tabs (usually you get 30-70 at a time), you can get sent home for 50 of them.
No, I quit over a year ago. That's nice, but that means you still have to find a WHM and pay him to send you there, then spend some more currency to actually get home.
Or you can just level WHM and BLM and warp yourself. It's not that hard to level BLM to 17, and if you don't know how to get 3 fame in Bastok by then for the spell quest, you might as well just give up and gb2wow.
That's nice, but if you're out in the middle of nowhere, how are you going to change your class to WHM or BLM so that you can teleport? Are you going to set BLM as your sub and let everybody else make fun of your gimpy subjob just so you can warp home for free? And if you're at home and want to go somewhere, sure, you can teleport yourself 10 minutes away by switching to WHM, but then how are you going to switch over to the job you actually want to play as?
You can do that in FFXI too. Just tap on the shoulder of any nearby monster, and it will helpfully kill you so you can go back to your home point. (If you're level 3 or less, you don't even lose XP.) The most extreme case I've seen is someone who used a Venom Potion to warp out of a crafting guild.
Yeah, no XP loss if you're 3 or less. Are you honestly suggesting that going out, getting in a fight with something that can kill you, and then losing a stack of XP is a reasonable way to just get home? Seriously? Let alone suggesting that you can poison yourself until you die and then warp home. Step back and take a look at that. That's ludicrous. And this is in a game in which losing XP can make you delevel and thus lose access to your shiny new spells and equipment, just for anybody reading this who hasn't played FFXI.
Look, I played FFXI for years. I understand how playing it makes you want to tell players of other MMORPGs how hardcore you are and how putting up with constant inconveniences makes your game better. As somehow who plays WoW now, I can confirm that it is a much easier game. I just want to have fun, though, and jumping through multiple flaming hoops just so I can get to the place where I want to play is not fun.
All of those are much more expensive and slower than anything in WoW.
crag teleport points (ask a white mage)
First you have to have been to the crag, then you have to find a white mage who will teleport you, then you pay the white mage, and then you pay for a chocobo and ride for ten minutes to get to town. Outpost warps are similar, except you can only go back and forth between your home city, and you have to be at least a minimum level and there are no chocobos nearby, and you're out of luck if beastmen control the zone. So you get to run even longer and aggro some monsters while you're at it! Then for boats and airships, you have to deal with their schedule, which may require sitting around for several minutes until they arrive and then several more minutes to get where you want to go. Oh, and you have to have done at least the rank 5 mission to use the airship. That's all a lot of work. Let's not forget that all of these cost money -- and a few hundred gil is a significant amount for lower-level players.
Have you played WoW? Every single character can warp to their home point from level 1, and it's free. No need to beg a black mage for Warp II or farm for scrolls of warp. Every zone in the game has at least one or two flight points in it; after you've visited one once, its node is entered into your network of flight points, and you can fly between any two points on a given continent for what amounts to spare change. There are free zeppelins/boats that go between continents quickly. No level requirement, no need to beg other players for help. Also, you can mount up and ride anywhere -- no need to pay exorbitant prices every time for time-limited chocobos or do a quest line to raise your own. And at higher levels you can get flying mounts, so you can just soar above any terrain and monsters inbetween you and your destination. And after the initial purchase, repeated uses are free! Oh, and mages can teleport directly to any of the larger cities, plus warlocks can summon people to their location, and engineers can build teleporters that go directly to certain cities...
Yes, I've played both of them. FFXI is "far, far worse" than WoW in that while it has transportation, every means of transportation it has is much slower and more expensive.