Actually, Skyrim's UI suffers from that same "we designed it for a console controller rather than a sane HID" that seems to plague damn near all games nowadays. If I realized that Bethesda was going to follow suit, I probably would have bought the Xbox version myself.
I agree with what you're saying for the most part, except for this:
I know some people will argue with me and say "Well, Steam doesn't release their stats" and that sort of argument, but it doesn't matter- the reality is that these companies have deemed developing for PCs to be not financially worthwhile however you try and spin it, and getting mad at them wont help.
You start off very well by comparing numbers as if they mean something, and then when you admit that we don't know Steam's numbers, you try to state that the numbers don't mean anything, because of the bottom line.
At any rate, I agree with your end result. The "gap" in the market that's allowed indie devs to step in an innovate has been the diamond in the rough for the PC gaming industry. I mean, that's all I ever wanted. You keep your fancy shaders, your ability to customize any last facet of your character's face and eye color (which doesn't matter in a first person, single player game), and your super realistic shadows, and give me a good and interesting game, not a pretty tech demo. This is the reason why I keep going back to play stuff like Ultima 7 and Planescape: Torment.
Just remember, the actions of our government do not reflect the views of its citizens. Don't hate us for what "our country" has become. Our government has been hijacked and does not reflect the beliefs and desires of it's populace.
The answer is simple, they already have a written policy, although you likely don't like the answer. It's they can throttle your connection whenever they want for whatever reason they want. Does that make you happier now that you have it written down (again)? Didn't think so.
Okay, so there's a few problems with that. How do I know Comcast isn't filtering Netflix/Hulu because it wants to force people back to cable? How do I know AT&T isn't filtering VOIP because it wants people to give up and go back to POTS? I suppose your reasonable answer is "You don't and you shouldn't. Consider yourself lucky that they're even willing to take your money."
Why do some of us get a little peeved when entitled fools like yourself start going off at the mouth? Because we actually know what the costs of an internet connection is, what the connect fees, wire fees, etc are because we've worked with them since the beginning of time. You demand business class connections.. That cost $6,000 a month with a full SLA, and bandwidth guarantees, then complain about your $50/month bill. You want to get the government involved to start mandating this or that because you don't like the service you are getting. Of course, they don't realize that won't make things just magically better. Your ISP will just have to raise everyone's monthly rate to cover the cost of implementing the new policies, or buying more upstream bandwidth etc. I don't want to pay more just because there are a few vocal minority that want to ruin a good thing for the rest of us.
Again, I'M OKAY WITH THROTTLING, if the network genuinely needs it to not go tits up. That's not unreasonable. Just give me a less bullshit set of circumstances it will happen beyond "Cause we feel like it." I never said I wanted the government to come rushing in and saving me. I just checked. Not said once.
You want a full SLA, no throttling, full bandwidth available at all times?
I feel like you're not listening. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough on the fact that I'd accept merely a list of circumstances and rates for which that throttling will occur. If that's the case, I apologize.
Like I said, it's available in almost every city in the united states, however, you won't like the price (most likely). You DO have a choice, you've ALWAYS had a choice. People complain that there is no alternative, but there IS.
If the 'choice' is outside of the budget of at least 90% of individuals in the country, then it's not really a choice and I would hope you realize that. Your 'helpful suggestion' is so far beyond the constraints of my requirements anyway, that I gotta imagine perhaps you're in sales.
What they always mean is that they can't get everything they want, and still pay sub $50 a month. There is a reason for it, and all the whining, name calling, and pointing figures at "the big bad companies" out to screw the little guy comes off as ignorance.
Actually, I can't in good conscience say that they are out to screw the little guy. Their system isn't open enough for me to be able to honestly say one way or another. Also, we pay about $70/month last time I checked for internet, because we bought the top tier package. We were actually at once point wanted to go to one of the small business packages, but the ISP balked at giving that to us because we were in a residential area. Still not sure what difference that would make, but perhaps if I had an EIN they'd let me do it. Something I suppose I will need to look into in the future.
Personally, I'm tired of paying for a government agency to try and protect everyone from themselves. That isn't what this country was founded on and goes against everything in the constitution. People like you are ruining this country one stupid legal ruling at a time. Turning what was supposed to be the country of the free in
Great. While I realize that such a connection is impractical for a home connection, I notice that you sidestepped my alternative, which was a
well thought out and concise list of circumstances and rates for which they will do so. (throttling)
And again, I really don't get why people are still being snide. Why are you so angry at me for wanting this? Is it worth it? From a technical standpoint, it shouldn't be difficult to provide. I mean, they HAVE proceedure for this, right? It's not just some guy tossing commands at a packet shaper on a Saturday night, throttling because he's pissed his girlfriend dumped him and he got stuck working the late shift, right?
Just give me something telling me how much bandwidth I can use before I start to get throttled, or how much percentages of what type of traffic will cause throttling, and for either of those, at what rate the throttling commences. THOSE are the expectations I want fulfilled.
I saw him last year (wow. that was just last year) in STL. I was in the nosebleed seats, but my god, it was amazing. I'm sadly too young to have seen many of the great legends, but I'm glad that was one I didn't miss out on.
And what principle would that be, exactly? By your own admission you don't even pay for the service, which gives you no say at all. In addition, your roommate apparently signed up without a contract establishing any terms of service at all - that makes him an idiot, and you even more so for thinking that you are entitled to complain.
I pay him back for part of the service, though my name is not on the actual bill. Were my name to be on the bill, would it make my complaint any more legitimate? You sound like you would so eagerly white knight for ISPs that it wouldn't matter much if Charter sent jackbooted thugs to beat me in the street. Tell you what, instead of being insulting and snide, deriding me for having the sheer audacity to complain about a service so graciously provided to me, point me to an ISP in the St. Louis area who can provide me with a 20 mpbs, hell, even a 10 mpbs, connection with an SLA. Conditions are that they offer a contractual agreement not to throttle bandwitdh, or even if they are going to throttle, then a well thought out and concise list of circumstances and rates for which they will do so. That's all I'm asking here. I don't want the magic network fairy to hit me with her magic wand. I just want expectations set. If I'm an "entitlement nag" for wanting that, then I guess it's not as bad a thing as I initially felt it was meant to be.
No where that I am aware of did he actually agree to terms and conditions stating that his service would be throttled under X conditions, nor to what extent
Which would make sense, considering the fact that he didn't agree to any terms at all.
I know: You'd think legitimate business would be more inclined to draft contracts for services rendered, or something. I'm not a lawyer; I try not to worry about such things.
Did you even bother to read what you wrote before posting it? It proves the parent's point: You ARE an entitlement nag.
Yes... yes I did. Why? How does wanting expectations set make me an entitlement nag? Why are you so completely angry that I just want to understand the conditions in which that the QoS changes?
I should warn you that I'm also one of those _absolute_ sociopaths that finds the lack of truth in advertising seen to be appalling
I'm not sure why you'd feel the need to warn us, it's not likely that anyone here really cares, not even if your sociopathic tendencies were to turn to violence. After all, what are you going to do, kill us over the Internet with the sheer force of your moral outrage? If you were to go postal in the real world, odds are the people that you killed wouldn't be any of us. I do, however, pity your roommate...
I warn you because I feel absolutely fucking insane when I see posts like yours, and I somewhat hope that you can ignore my posts, because I can't help but have that fear in the back of my head that I am in fact crazy, and somehow I will infect the rest of you. I warn you because something happened sometime recently causing people to stand up in the name of corporations. Why, I have no idea. It's off-topic, but the only arguments I've seen against the OWS crowd is that they're "entitled", or that they're "jobless hippies". I still have yet to see anything consisting of an actual argument not made from emotion with regard to them. This is the same situation. Why do you feel like they're justified in throttling? Why do you feel like they are in spite of the legal monopolies and subsidies?
Why do you feel sorry for my roommate? While I'm sure he appreciates your apparent concern and goodwill, when he heard of this story, he became concerned, as most of the cursory throughput tests he did during peakhours showed less than optimal results already and asked me if I thought we had a problem with getting throttled and needed to try to do something about it.
To quote the late Warren Oates in his role as Sergeant Hulka: "Lighten up, Francis".
You are an entitlement nag. You know the service you have. You might not have realized it when you got it, because you didn't PAY ATTENTION.
Oh, I know what I have. I am not happy about it, but I have no choice, because there IS no choice. That does not mean I, contrary to your apparent belief, need to be happy about it. In your mind, my options are apparently "shut up and be grateful like the good little pleb I am that I get service, period", and "live as an anachronism".
You want some government body to step in and make rules and laws so YOU don't have to READ stuff BEFORE YOU SIGN IT. You know very well now what your service is.
Yeah, laws and regulations that would force, well, companies to not lie in their advertising. I know, crazy, right?
I'll be honest, with the ISP I'm using right now, my roommate actually pays the bill. He's not in a contract. He 'purchased' service over the phone. I was standing right next to him while he did it. The only signature he provided was on a piece of paper that was from the tech that came out to check the wiring while we set up the router and confirmed the cable modem worked. This piece of paper signed was to acknowledge that the tech arrived on site and that services were rendered. No where that I am aware of did he actually agree to terms and conditions stating that his service would be throttled under X conditions, nor to what extent. Of course, I suppose it's possible that they slipped in some kind of "...and you also agree to the terms and conditions that are buried in our craphole of a website." Not that we actually see problems, though we are sure that they're throttling, it doesn't impact us much. It's the principle of the matter.
I should warn you that I'm also one of those _absolute_ sociopaths that finds the lack of truth in advertising seen to be appalling. For example I think that prescription drugs shouldn't be able to advertise.
If you don't like it, please switch to another provider, and stop whining that you didn't know/read what you were getting.
Again, I see that talking point parroted. I am not sure that works the way you think it works. Out of curiosity, which one of the ISPs was it that you worked for? You have kind of a shitty attitude, and I was thinking that I wanted to avoid subsidizing your paycheck. There's always internet at work after all.
Slashdot Mirror
You think those companies make money from goods?
Oh man, and me without my mod points.
You know, I wonder if his subluxations could cure quack medicine.
Naw, they 'ouldn't work betta', jus' FASTA!!!
Ah, well, that makes more sense then.
Why?
Why can't it be all of the above?
Huh. Did not know that. Annoying still, but I guess I see the importance in that from their point of view.
Ah yes, spite. The only force in this world still more powerful than money.
I agree with what you're saying for the most part, except for this:
I know some people will argue with me and say "Well, Steam doesn't release their stats" and that sort of argument, but it doesn't matter- the reality is that these companies have deemed developing for PCs to be not financially worthwhile however you try and spin it, and getting mad at them wont help.
You start off very well by comparing numbers as if they mean something, and then when you admit that we don't know Steam's numbers, you try to state that the numbers don't mean anything, because of the bottom line.
At any rate, I agree with your end result. The "gap" in the market that's allowed indie devs to step in an innovate has been the diamond in the rough for the PC gaming industry. I mean, that's all I ever wanted. You keep your fancy shaders, your ability to customize any last facet of your character's face and eye color (which doesn't matter in a first person, single player game), and your super realistic shadows, and give me a good and interesting game, not a pretty tech demo. This is the reason why I keep going back to play stuff like Ultima 7 and Planescape: Torment.
God, I wish I hadn't already posted so I could mod this up.
"They've broken everything else, so we've moved to the scorched earth policy. Let's see them pirate a game that doesn't exist!"
You kind of sound like you have problems communicating with people. Perhaps you should get yourself tested for Asperger's.
Do onions, green peppers, and olives count at all?
Just remember, the actions of our government do not reflect the views of its citizens. Don't hate us for what "our country" has become. Our government has been hijacked and does not reflect the beliefs and desires of it's populace.
Sweet. I just got absolved for wearing sweat-shop made clothing.
...nah, too easy.
The answer is simple, they already have a written policy, although you likely don't like the answer. It's they can throttle your connection whenever they want for whatever reason they want. Does that make you happier now that you have it written down (again)? Didn't think so.
Okay, so there's a few problems with that. How do I know Comcast isn't filtering Netflix/Hulu because it wants to force people back to cable? How do I know AT&T isn't filtering VOIP because it wants people to give up and go back to POTS? I suppose your reasonable answer is "You don't and you shouldn't. Consider yourself lucky that they're even willing to take your money."
Why do some of us get a little peeved when entitled fools like yourself start going off at the mouth? Because we actually know what the costs of an internet connection is, what the connect fees, wire fees, etc are because we've worked with them since the beginning of time. You demand business class connections.. That cost $6,000 a month with a full SLA, and bandwidth guarantees, then complain about your $50/month bill. You want to get the government involved to start mandating this or that because you don't like the service you are getting. Of course, they don't realize that won't make things just magically better. Your ISP will just have to raise everyone's monthly rate to cover the cost of implementing the new policies, or buying more upstream bandwidth etc. I don't want to pay more just because there are a few vocal minority that want to ruin a good thing for the rest of us.
Again, I'M OKAY WITH THROTTLING, if the network genuinely needs it to not go tits up. That's not unreasonable. Just give me a less bullshit set of circumstances it will happen beyond "Cause we feel like it." I never said I wanted the government to come rushing in and saving me. I just checked. Not said once.
You want a full SLA, no throttling, full bandwidth available at all times?
I feel like you're not listening. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough on the fact that I'd accept merely a list of circumstances and rates for which that throttling will occur. If that's the case, I apologize.
Like I said, it's available in almost every city in the united states, however, you won't like the price (most likely). You DO have a choice, you've ALWAYS had a choice. People complain that there is no alternative, but there IS.
If the 'choice' is outside of the budget of at least 90% of individuals in the country, then it's not really a choice and I would hope you realize that. Your 'helpful suggestion' is so far beyond the constraints of my requirements anyway, that I gotta imagine perhaps you're in sales.
What they always mean is that they can't get everything they want, and still pay sub $50 a month. There is a reason for it, and all the whining, name calling, and pointing figures at "the big bad companies" out to screw the little guy comes off as ignorance.
Actually, I can't in good conscience say that they are out to screw the little guy. Their system isn't open enough for me to be able to honestly say one way or another. Also, we pay about $70/month last time I checked for internet, because we bought the top tier package. We were actually at once point wanted to go to one of the small business packages, but the ISP balked at giving that to us because we were in a residential area. Still not sure what difference that would make, but perhaps if I had an EIN they'd let me do it. Something I suppose I will need to look into in the future.
Personally, I'm tired of paying for a government agency to try and protect everyone from themselves. That isn't what this country was founded on and goes against everything in the constitution. People like you are ruining this country one stupid legal ruling at a time. Turning what was supposed to be the country of the free in
well thought out and concise list of circumstances and rates for which they will do so. (throttling)
And again, I really don't get why people are still being snide. Why are you so angry at me for wanting this? Is it worth it? From a technical standpoint, it shouldn't be difficult to provide. I mean, they HAVE proceedure for this, right? It's not just some guy tossing commands at a packet shaper on a Saturday night, throttling because he's pissed his girlfriend dumped him and he got stuck working the late shift, right?
Just give me something telling me how much bandwidth I can use before I start to get throttled, or how much percentages of what type of traffic will cause throttling, and for either of those, at what rate the throttling commences. THOSE are the expectations I want fulfilled.
Protests aren't really much of protests if they show up somewhere, yell out their purpose, and then disperse peacefully....
I thought he was talking about He-Man.
Pretty cool, though I expected the acid one to resemble Frank Zappa lyrics.
I saw him last year (wow. that was just last year) in STL. I was in the nosebleed seats, but my god, it was amazing. I'm sadly too young to have seen many of the great legends, but I'm glad that was one I didn't miss out on.
And what principle would that be, exactly? By your own admission you don't even pay for the service, which gives you no say at all. In addition, your roommate apparently signed up without a contract establishing any terms of service at all - that makes him an idiot, and you even more so for thinking that you are entitled to complain.
I pay him back for part of the service, though my name is not on the actual bill. Were my name to be on the bill, would it make my complaint any more legitimate? You sound like you would so eagerly white knight for ISPs that it wouldn't matter much if Charter sent jackbooted thugs to beat me in the street. Tell you what, instead of being insulting and snide, deriding me for having the sheer audacity to complain about a service so graciously provided to me, point me to an ISP in the St. Louis area who can provide me with a 20 mpbs, hell, even a 10 mpbs, connection with an SLA. Conditions are that they offer a contractual agreement not to throttle bandwitdh, or even if they are going to throttle, then a well thought out and concise list of circumstances and rates for which they will do so. That's all I'm asking here. I don't want the magic network fairy to hit me with her magic wand. I just want expectations set. If I'm an "entitlement nag" for wanting that, then I guess it's not as bad a thing as I initially felt it was meant to be.
Which would make sense, considering the fact that he didn't agree to any terms at all.
I know: You'd think legitimate business would be more inclined to draft contracts for services rendered, or something. I'm not a lawyer; I try not to worry about such things.
Did you even bother to read what you wrote before posting it? It proves the parent's point: You ARE an entitlement nag.
Yes... yes I did. Why? How does wanting expectations set make me an entitlement nag? Why are you so completely angry that I just want to understand the conditions in which that the QoS changes?
I'm not sure why you'd feel the need to warn us, it's not likely that anyone here really cares, not even if your sociopathic tendencies were to turn to violence. After all, what are you going to do, kill us over the Internet with the sheer force of your moral outrage? If you were to go postal in the real world, odds are the people that you killed wouldn't be any of us. I do, however, pity your roommate...
I warn you because I feel absolutely fucking insane when I see posts like yours, and I somewhat hope that you can ignore my posts, because I can't help but have that fear in the back of my head that I am in fact crazy, and somehow I will infect the rest of you. I warn you because something happened sometime recently causing people to stand up in the name of corporations. Why, I have no idea. It's off-topic, but the only arguments I've seen against the OWS crowd is that they're "entitled", or that they're "jobless hippies". I still have yet to see anything consisting of an actual argument not made from emotion with regard to them. This is the same situation. Why do you feel like they're justified in throttling? Why do you feel like they are in spite of the legal monopolies and subsidies?
Why do you feel sorry for my roommate? While I'm sure he appreciates your apparent concern and goodwill, when he heard of this story, he became concerned, as most of the cursory throughput tests he did during peakhours showed less than optimal results already and asked me if I thought we had a problem with getting throttled and needed to try to do something about it.
To quote the late Warren Oates in his role as Sergeant Hulka: "Lighten up, Francis".
Yea-fucking-verily.
You are an entitlement nag. You know the service you have. You might not have realized it when you got it, because you didn't PAY ATTENTION.
Oh, I know what I have. I am not happy about it, but I have no choice, because there IS no choice. That does not mean I, contrary to your apparent belief, need to be happy about it. In your mind, my options are apparently "shut up and be grateful like the good little pleb I am that I get service, period", and "live as an anachronism".
You want some government body to step in and make rules and laws so YOU don't have to READ stuff BEFORE YOU SIGN IT. You know very well now what your service is.
Yeah, laws and regulations that would force, well, companies to not lie in their advertising. I know, crazy, right?
I'll be honest, with the ISP I'm using right now, my roommate actually pays the bill. He's not in a contract. He 'purchased' service over the phone. I was standing right next to him while he did it. The only signature he provided was on a piece of paper that was from the tech that came out to check the wiring while we set up the router and confirmed the cable modem worked. This piece of paper signed was to acknowledge that the tech arrived on site and that services were rendered. No where that I am aware of did he actually agree to terms and conditions stating that his service would be throttled under X conditions, nor to what extent. Of course, I suppose it's possible that they slipped in some kind of "...and you also agree to the terms and conditions that are buried in our craphole of a website." Not that we actually see problems, though we are sure that they're throttling, it doesn't impact us much. It's the principle of the matter.
I should warn you that I'm also one of those _absolute_ sociopaths that finds the lack of truth in advertising seen to be appalling. For example I think that prescription drugs shouldn't be able to advertise.
If you don't like it, please switch to another provider, and stop whining that you didn't know/read what you were getting.
Again, I see that talking point parroted. I am not sure that works the way you think it works. Out of curiosity, which one of the ISPs was it that you worked for? You have kind of a shitty attitude, and I was thinking that I wanted to avoid subsidizing your paycheck. There's always internet at work after all.