the one you're talking about was crossbows and catapults. It had blocks, and disks you fired using a crossbow and catapult(duh)
The other competing/more recent one was weapons and warriors. Less blocks, more coherent plastic castle, and it had a cannon and catapult that fired red plastic balls.
You can still find weapons and warriors at kaybee and other closeout stores.. Dunno bout crossbows and catapults.
Couple of notes first: IAAMMORPGD(I am a MMORPG Designer), and this is just a rough overview of my take on their economy.
On the player level, you have an influx of platinum/gold/silver/copper
These come from monsters and selling items
All of the in-game currency has a "time" associated with
I'm not sure what the time invested vs. in-game platinum breaks down to, but thats your base valuation for a real world cash value
So money gets introduced, and cycles either to other players, then through shopkeepers in the form of consumables (Food, Weapons, Spells)
Or out of the game in the form of players quitting.
Couple this with a much larger influx of cash than you have leaving, and voila.. Inflation!
You can factor in characters/items/etceter in a similiar way
Character value = time invested vs. Rarity vs. Desireability of character
Same thing for items.. But once again, since there's no mechanism to destroy items, the influx of raw materials outstrips them leaving the game.
And then you get a consistent devaluation of your equipment.
It is an economy, and it does in fact connect to the outside world.. And if you actually run some numbers on it, has a fairly interesting inflationary problem..
OldmanMurray
on
Seanbaby.com
·
· Score: 3, Informative
In case anyone didn't know this as well
Seanbaby is a big part of the Oldmanmurray website
One of the funnier game review sites out there, with some fairly biting commentary on the state of the industry
Okay.. I've owned kohan ever since Rich Laporte over at Gonegold (http://www.gonegold.com) raved about the beta version..
For a quick description, Think heroes of might and magic, masters of magic and warlords 1-3 combined, and then made realtime
But not realtime in the negative clickfest sense.. Very methodical and well paced real time
Mix in great cooperative multiplay, random map generation, a scenario editor, and at least for the windows version an integrated gamespy client, and you get Kohan
The entire game is structured around heroes(Kohan's), and "squads" of units.
So instead of controlling a zillion little units, you're instead controlling groups of units that you construct
Each group of units has a zone of conflict, and when zones of conflict overlap, the units will engage one another..
Combat is fairly passive, but still has an extremely large amount of tactical depth
There's also a really nice resource harvesting model.. Unique in the sense that it strongly discourages hoarding.. Any excess resources for a timeslice are discarded instead of stored..
Overall its a great game.. One of the best, if not the best rts game i've played this year..
And to top off a great product, the developers (Timegate) have done a great job supporting and updating the product..
They're very active in the community, and host tournaments every now and then..
Re:Will this cause problems for the ISS? - NO
on
Meteor Showers
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
IANOMS(I am not a meteor scientist) but...
Not to challenge your meteor scale statement, but last time i checked, even a grain of sand going at meteor type speeds will cause significant damage..
They've got a piece of a shuttle windshield that got nailed by a piece of paint down in houston at the johnson space space center..
Nothing quite like seeing a fleck of paint embedded 2 inches into a "bulletproof" windshield..
Re:Now this is depressing
on
HDTV Over IP
·
· Score: 1
Note to self: Spellcheck a little more closely so I don't sound like Commander Taco.
This should have read:
When I read the blurb on this article and think to myself:
1. How did they bypass the Encryption?
2. Boy, Nasa's gonna get sued...
Now this is depressing
on
HDTV Over IP
·
· Score: 1
When I read an the blurb on this article ant think to myself:
From their article: In that case, the Recording Industry Association of America (news - web sites) and the Secure Digital Music Initiative claimed 2600 Magazine's online publication of a program called DeCSS (news - web sites) (Decrypt Content Scramble System), that cracks encrypted digital video discs, violated the law.
Does anyone know if there's any way that the DMCA can be used against products such as NERO?
That's the direction i could see this sort of alliance going towards..
Sure we'll still be able to get ahold of "black market" burning software..
But if they have Non-standard burning software declared a "Circumvention device" ala decss or whatnot
Well then.. Things will get Ugly
In fact.. With the new Types of copy protection on music cd's (I think the major one is some bastardization of the orange book format)
Would ownership of an mp3 of a song that only showed up on the copy protected cd be considered a violation of the DMCA?
relating to the labels charging 1.99 for singles, and 18.98 for albums with the new mtv music download service.
keep in mind these are limited recordings, with digital rights management built in.. So no burning to cdr
"The idea that the music doesn't have value when it's taken off the disk is wrong; the art form is the music," said Ted Cohen, EMI's vice president of new media. "Whether it's a download, bought in a store, or burned, we see that the value is in the music.
"It makes it more complex to go to an artist and tell them that they are going to get less money because they are selling the tracks digitally."
Just as a refresher, We're all familiar with the business model and how artists get paid.. Right?
(They get concert revenue.. Cd sales revenue typically goes straight back to the record label)
POL: You're the campaign manager for a politician attempting to sway public opinion and get elected. Deal with marital infidelity, character assassination, real assassination, and fickle public opinion.
Already in development over at Stardock Systems.. named campaigner.
if i remember correctly, to get certification you must buy "digital fingerprint" whatnots from verisign..
I'm unsure how much this will impact the development of smaller scale software..
Especially because it seems that ms has a fair amount of clout related to verisign..(Given that they've just made verisign a LOT of money)
This does introduce the new idealogy that the creation of smallscale software now requires either a recurring fee, or a "licensing" fee paid to a third party
Sorta sounds like console development to me..
Even if the end user can disable this feature, we now have introduced the concept of truly underground development
Not only can this be used for applications, but for drivers as well...
and given the limitations of SDMI and the rest of the secure music formats relating to signed/unsigned drivers, this has some creepy potential for future os's
I'm of the impression that if i pay a large amount of money for an item..
it should look/feel as expensive as it really is..
I assume these will be comparable to other laptop prices..
1500-5000 or so.. If thats how much these cost, then they should :
A. Look like they cost 1500-5000 USD.. Not like fisher price laptops
B. Feel like they cost 1500-5000 USD.. (be it solidity of construction, or whatnot)
The quote that sums this idealogy up is a line from Jurassic park :
"Is it heavy?"
"Yes"
"Well then it must be expensive.. Put it down"
I'm not asking for a heavy laptop, but i at least want a product that looks to be worth the amount of money paid for it.. heh
But it could be worse.. It could end up looking like an iBook.. Aka the toilet seat.
Bioware didn't make Icewind Dale. Bioware wrote Baldur's Gate.
And just finished Baldur's Gate 2.
They both used a variant of an engine Bioware created called the Infinity Engine.
This is the engine that they then gave to Interplay's RPG division, Black Isle Studios.
Black Isle then proceeded to make Planescape Torment, and Icewind Dale.
These were Interplay's in-house productions and had nothing to do with Bioware other than the base engine.
The game that you've referred to as Icewind Dale is actually Neverwinter Nights.
It's using a different engine completely (And thats another post), and isn't actually due out until june of next year
And last time i checked Gearbox developed Half Life opposing forces..
And the new Dreamcast Halflife..
And they were dropped by Electronics Arts when they were developing Prax War.
But they have nothing to do with Black Isle/Bioware/TSR
The pinkerton execs only talked with Jon Katz because they were caught off guard by the slashdot response. They don't know who we are.. they don't know what we represent.. What they saw was a potential pr nightmare.. So naturally the decided to do some research.. They don't care what we think.. All they're interested in is keeping us quiet.. or getting us on their side.. Hence the "Job offers".
I find the concept of this reprehensible.. (But not particularly out of the ordinary for a large corporation)
So we have a choice now.. Attempt to debate with those that do not have an desire to listen to us.. Or deliberately dork up their entire system..
I think we should make sure this issue stays in the minds of slashdot readers.. and if possible extends to non-readers..
Lets show pinkerton what slashdot represents.. and why they need to do a little more than offer us a cookie to shut up and go back to our room.. -Dan
Even though there are 25 discworld books available, it's been fairly difficult to get ahold of the early books..
Recently, There have been a set of reprints of the first 3 books, (Colour of Magic, Light Fantastic and Equal Rights)...
The next 3 books were just rereleased (Mort, Wyrd Sisters and Sourcery)
There's still a gap of around 5-6 books between these reprints and the current in-print pratchett books, but these can be found at a number of online sellers for decent prices..
I'd recommend DreamHaven Books...
Not only are they cheap, but they've got a GREAT selection.. including the Nanny Ogg Cookbook..
Slashdot Mirror
There were 2 variants of this.
the one you're talking about was crossbows and catapults. It had blocks, and disks you fired using a crossbow and catapult(duh)
The other competing/more recent one was weapons and warriors. Less blocks, more coherent plastic castle, and it had a cannon and catapult that fired red plastic balls.
You can still find weapons and warriors at kaybee and other closeout stores.. Dunno bout crossbows and catapults.
It dawned on me that my first post wasn't completely clear.
:) )
She's referring to holding all ISP's accountable if their users are found to be infringing on the riaa/mpaa ip rights (or wrongs if you prefer
The idea of pawning off legal or ip enforcement onto the isp is reprehensible to me, but seems to be the direction we're going
we don't need a pesky legal system with due process.. just string them up at the corporations discretion..
There's a choice quote from Hillary Rosen that everyone needs to pay close attention to.
Looks like she wants to repeal the safe harbor protection that ISP's have.
"Because of the magnitude of the problem, ISPs can no longer be shielded from the wrath of the law"
I'm just aghast at the arrogance from all parties involved.
Couple of notes first: IAAMMORPGD(I am a MMORPG Designer), and this is just a rough overview of my take on their economy.
On the player level, you have an influx of platinum/gold/silver/copper
These come from monsters and selling items
All of the in-game currency has a "time" associated with
I'm not sure what the time invested vs. in-game platinum breaks down to, but thats your base valuation for a real world cash value
So money gets introduced, and cycles either to other players, then through shopkeepers in the form of consumables (Food, Weapons, Spells)
Or out of the game in the form of players quitting.
Couple this with a much larger influx of cash than you have leaving, and voila.. Inflation!
You can factor in characters/items/etceter in a similiar way
Character value = time invested vs. Rarity vs. Desireability of character
Same thing for items.. But once again, since there's no mechanism to destroy items, the influx of raw materials outstrips them leaving the game.
And then you get a consistent devaluation of your equipment.
It is an economy, and it does in fact connect to the outside world.. And if you actually run some numbers on it, has a fairly interesting inflationary problem..
In case anyone didn't know this as well
Seanbaby is a big part of the Oldmanmurray website
One of the funnier game review sites out there, with some fairly biting commentary on the state of the industry
http://www.oldmanmurray.com
Okay.. I've owned kohan ever since Rich Laporte over at Gonegold (http://www.gonegold.com) raved about the beta version..
For a quick description, Think heroes of might and magic, masters of magic and warlords 1-3 combined, and then made realtime
But not realtime in the negative clickfest sense.. Very methodical and well paced real time
Mix in great cooperative multiplay, random map generation, a scenario editor, and at least for the windows version an integrated gamespy client, and you get Kohan
The entire game is structured around heroes(Kohan's), and "squads" of units.
So instead of controlling a zillion little units, you're instead controlling groups of units that you construct
Each group of units has a zone of conflict, and when zones of conflict overlap, the units will engage one another..
Combat is fairly passive, but still has an extremely large amount of tactical depth
There's also a really nice resource harvesting model.. Unique in the sense that it strongly discourages hoarding.. Any excess resources for a timeslice are discarded instead of stored..
Overall its a great game.. One of the best, if not the best rts game i've played this year..
And to top off a great product, the developers (Timegate) have done a great job supporting and updating the product..
They're very active in the community, and host tournaments every now and then..
IANOMS(I am not a meteor scientist) but...
Not to challenge your meteor scale statement, but last time i checked, even a grain of sand going at meteor type speeds will cause significant damage..
They've got a piece of a shuttle windshield that got nailed by a piece of paint down in houston at the johnson space space center..
Nothing quite like seeing a fleck of paint embedded 2 inches into a "bulletproof" windshield..
Note to self: Spellcheck a little more closely so I don't sound like Commander Taco.
This should have read:
When I read the blurb on this article and think to myself:
1. How did they bypass the Encryption?
2. Boy, Nasa's gonna get sued...
When I read an the blurb on this article ant think to myself:
1. How did they bypass the encryption?
2. Boy Nasa's gonna get sued..
Actually I think the current networks they're starting up don't even allow ths..
I thought the pricing was around 19.95 a month for 30 or so songs.
No burnt cd's, no copying, no portable play
Portable play is supposed to be added at a later date..
Oh yeah and I think they're time limited listens as well..
So I'd bet this is going to be a catastrophic failure.. Which they'll probably blame on file sharing or whatnot..
Does anyone have a feedback Address for reuters?
From their article:
In that case, the Recording Industry Association of America (news - web sites) and the Secure Digital Music Initiative claimed 2600 Magazine's online publication of a program called DeCSS (news - web sites) (Decrypt Content Scramble System), that cracks encrypted digital video discs, violated the law.
At least they spelled DECSS right..
Not to compound the conspiratorial air, but..
Eg&G handles security at Groom Lake now..
They took over from wackenhut in 1998 I think
EG&G Is still a terrifying company, but they lack the keen name..
Does anyone know if there's any way that the DMCA can be used against products such as NERO?
That's the direction i could see this sort of alliance going towards..
Sure we'll still be able to get ahold of "black market" burning software..
But if they have Non-standard burning software declared a "Circumvention device" ala decss or whatnot
Well then.. Things will get Ugly
In fact.. With the new Types of copy protection on music cd's (I think the major one is some bastardization of the orange book format)
Would ownership of an mp3 of a song that only showed up on the copy protected cd be considered a violation of the DMCA?
From a wired article:
relating to the labels charging 1.99 for singles, and 18.98 for albums with the new mtv music download service.
keep in mind these are limited recordings, with digital rights management built in.. So no burning to cdr
"The idea that the music doesn't have value when it's taken off the disk is wrong; the art form is the music," said Ted Cohen, EMI's vice president of new media. "Whether it's a download, bought in a store, or burned, we see that the value is in the music.
"It makes it more complex to go to an artist and tell them that they are going to get less money because they are selling the tracks digitally."
Just as a refresher, We're all familiar with the business model and how artists get paid.. Right?
(They get concert revenue.. Cd sales revenue typically goes straight back to the record label)
Is change the RIAA's Focus..
:(
If they couldn't go after sealand, or Matt Goyer
Well then they'd just go after individual users..
They have the resources to send out scores of Cease and Desist letters...
Enough to torpedo any sort of business based server..
POL: You're the campaign manager for a politician attempting to sway public opinion and get elected. Deal with marital infidelity, character assassination, real assassination, and fickle public opinion.
Already in development over at Stardock Systems.. named campaigner.
Check their Drengin.net In Development page
Actually tiger did have a legal problem with the furbies..
After the furby released there was a lawsuit relating to teh similarities between the Gremlins Mogwai and the furby
Tiger/Hasbro lost/settled, and I assume that the new Gremlin release was part of the deal..
Oops.. Wrong Link.. This is the correct link..
This is apprently a recent urban legend..
:)
Check here for more info
Or do a search on deja.. Lotsa posts..
Besides I checked on my phone and it doesn't work..
if i remember correctly, to get certification you must buy "digital fingerprint" whatnots from verisign..
I'm unsure how much this will impact the development of smaller scale software..
Especially because it seems that ms has a fair amount of clout related to verisign..(Given that they've just made verisign a LOT of money)
This does introduce the new idealogy that the creation of smallscale software now requires either a recurring fee, or a "licensing" fee paid to a third party
Sorta sounds like console development to me..
Even if the end user can disable this feature, we now have introduced the concept of truly underground development
Not only can this be used for applications, but for drivers as well...
and given the limitations of SDMI and the rest of the secure music formats relating to signed/unsigned drivers, this has some creepy potential for future os's
But maybe i'm reading too much into it..
Okay.. I might just be old fashioned.. BUT..
I'm of the impression that if i pay a large amount of money for an item..
it should look/feel as expensive as it really is..
I assume these will be comparable to other laptop prices..
1500-5000 or so.. If thats how much these cost, then they should :
A. Look like they cost 1500-5000 USD.. Not like fisher price laptops
B. Feel like they cost 1500-5000 USD.. (be it solidity of construction, or whatnot)
The quote that sums this idealogy up is a line from Jurassic park :
"Is it heavy?"
"Yes"
"Well then it must be expensive.. Put it down"
I'm not asking for a heavy laptop, but i at least want a product that looks to be worth the amount of money paid for it.. heh
But it could be worse.. It could end up looking like an iBook.. Aka the toilet seat.
I think a milky way dark would be more appropriate...
Chocolate so dark even light cannot escape its surface
Okay you're wrong on so many levels..
Bioware didn't make Icewind Dale. Bioware wrote Baldur's Gate.
And just finished Baldur's Gate 2.
They both used a variant of an engine Bioware created called the Infinity Engine.
This is the engine that they then gave to Interplay's RPG division, Black Isle Studios.
Black Isle then proceeded to make Planescape Torment, and Icewind Dale.
These were Interplay's in-house productions and had nothing to do with Bioware other than the base engine.
The game that you've referred to as Icewind Dale is actually Neverwinter Nights.
It's using a different engine completely (And thats another post), and isn't actually due out until june of next year
And last time i checked Gearbox developed Half Life opposing forces..
And the new Dreamcast Halflife..
And they were dropped by Electronics Arts when they were developing Prax War.
But they have nothing to do with Black Isle/Bioware/TSR
My take on the whole thing.. (might be redundant)
The pinkerton execs only talked with Jon Katz because they were caught off guard by the slashdot response. They don't know who we are.. they don't know what we represent.. What they saw was a potential pr nightmare.. So naturally the decided to do some research.. They don't care what we think.. All they're interested in is keeping us quiet.. or getting us on their side.. Hence the "Job offers".
I find the concept of this reprehensible.. (But not particularly out of the ordinary for a large corporation)
So we have a choice now.. Attempt to debate with those that do not have an desire to listen to us.. Or deliberately dork up their entire system..
I think we should make sure this issue stays in the minds of slashdot readers.. and if possible extends to non-readers..
Lets show pinkerton what slashdot represents.. and why they need to do a little more than offer us a cookie to shut up and go back to our room..
-Dan
Even though there are 25 discworld books available, it's been fairly difficult to get ahold of the early books..
Recently, There have been a set of reprints of the first 3 books, (Colour of Magic, Light Fantastic and Equal Rights)...
The next 3 books were just rereleased (Mort, Wyrd Sisters and Sourcery)
There's still a gap of around 5-6 books between these reprints and the current in-print pratchett books, but these can be found at a number of online sellers for decent prices..
I'd recommend DreamHaven Books...
Not only are they cheap, but they've got a GREAT selection.. including the Nanny Ogg Cookbook..