which is also about how long the game would last, until people get away from the current mindset of watching the numbers. For the most part, people playing the current crop of MMORPG's would be just as happy watching a spreadsheet of formulas being slowly incremented, with the occasional loud DING and some whizbang graphics...
That's the problem with trains that are not well thought out or built as an afterthought. In Japan, for example, the stations are so close together that it almost makes no sense to take a car - parking will be horrible, if it exists, and only makes sense if you are going some place off the mainlines (which is not anywhere in the city.)
The other problem, in the US, is that people are sold this idea that they must have a car - for the freedom of the road. Since the % of population riding public transportation is low, the incentive isn't there to make as many lines and stations as necessary to make the train the most convenient option. This is doubly confounded in LA, and their love affair with cars - see New York or Boston for cities that can make the train system work.
Anakin is the chosen one (you are right there) and did bring balance to the force, for a couple decades, but not by throwing Sidious over the ledge.
In the beginning of EP 1 there was the Jedi Council and that was it - the Sith were assumed extinct. Before the presence of the Sith is revealed, the Jedi all start rubbing their chins, thinking that young Anakin will bring "balance" to the Force since he is so powerful.
Hello - there are nothing but Jedi running around until the two Sith Lords appear.
Ignoring any backstory (which I don't know or care to know), from watching the movies, it is obvious that Anakin DID bring balance to force - by eliminating all the Jedi but two - leaving Obi Wan and Yoda on the light side and Sidious and Vader on the dark side. Balance. QED.
Not exactly what the Jedi Council had in mind, but then prophecies can be hard to interpret sometimes. If we take into account the story Sidious tells during the opera, it could even be assumed that Anakin was the product of the dark side to begin with (would the Jedi have dabbled in creating life??) and that the "everything was proceeding to plan" the entire time?
Being an IT Professional that "dropped out" like Jobs and Wozniak, it has always pissed me off that Apple requires "A BS in Computer Science"
They never say that dropping out of college will help you get a job - ever notice that these highly successful college dropouts started their own company and didn't go to work for someone else? There's a lesson in there for you.
From the sounds of it, someone in Korea decided to try making a game that appeals to everyone - in process, probably making a game that will appeal to no one.
Role-playing game fans will enjoy a game design that focuses more on depth than complexity, with an immersive story and rich character growth driven by player choices.
An RPG with minimal stats, leaving the post-EQ MMORPG fan out in the cold. "What?! You mean I have to roleplay a character?!"
First person shooter fans who crave a richer gaming experience will appreciate a massively multiplayer game that is reactive to player choices and allows for a broad range of character movement. They'll also find FPS standards including explosions, vehicles and big guns.
Explosions! Big guns! Reactive to player choices?! Huh? As opposed a game that simply ignores the players, which is what most people have grown to love.
Massively multiplayer online game fans will enjoy being able to garner rare collectibles and inventory, a large community to interact with, and frequently updated content to both the game and the storyline.
Ok...here we go. Phat loot! Massive online community of people you can whine with on our company message board! Frequently (by that we mean maybe once a year for free - paid expansions to contain any real content) updates!
From the initial hope of Garriot creating a company and starting Tabula Rosa - Blank Slate! A fresh start! - to the shock at NCSoft buying the nascent company, to this rethinking of the game entirely is almost as painful as the sudden cancellation of UO2.
Exactly. Part of the reason that Dell does not go with AMD is also their lack of manufacturing flexibility. Look for AMD to partner with a major foundry player to help create more wafer start ability - that will placate Dell.
Look at my sig to know my politics.
-- The conservative right is always gloriously wrong. Always.
Ideological? Obstinate? As non-open-minded as the "conservative right"? Thank you for ensuring that US politics remains the unresponsive, unrepresentative, bipolar mess that it is today! Your fellow Democrats and Republicans thank you, I'm sure.
Good luck in Japan. It may be easier with some knowledge of Japanese but be prepared to be wrong - a lot.
I heard a review of "Wrong About Japan" on NPR a while back and the premise is pretty accurate. People from outside of Japan tend to put either too much meaning, the wrong meaning, or totally miss the meaning of many things that are basic in Japan. It isn't something you can prevent but you can be ready for it by keeping an open mind (which you most likely already have.) Just don't let your anime and web experience cloud your view.
I can't find the link but someone had a pretty accurate view of Japanese language students and the misconceptions or "reasons" they think they know Japan and its' culture (but are typically wrong.) The best bet is to accept you don't know and go with it...
And you who are about to say that it already says that -- it does ONLY if you approach the paragraph with that knowledge. For someone outside the blogging community - it's just confusing. Last, if you still like it as is, fine, that's why I don't read blogs. Too often they are crypitc and snooty.
Good point! You should post that on your blog so you can get some trackback links and feedback!
Second Life, of all the MMORPG's that have come out in the last 5-7 years, seems to be the closest thing to the Metaverse that Neal Stephenson envisioned. The majority of content is user created and there isn't really a game per se - it is more of a virtual world that is what the residents make of it.
The subscription/cost model is a little difficult to understand, though. I understand that you must buy land and IP of anything you create in Second Life belongs to you (I assume they mean copyright when referring to IP - hard to tell). What about the servers, though? Until they allow interconnections and expansion outside of their server farm, whatever they say about IP and user rights go out the window if they go belly up. Which means that there is the strong chance of designer intervention and not necessarily in the best interests of the residents, if that is what you want to call them.
Overall, though, I think that Second Life is one of the more interesting concepts in MMORPG's and one or two generations later may lead to some real advances towards a Metaverse type world.
Koster is known for two things: Ultima Online and SWG. Now, which one of those games is fun? When it came out UO was revolutionary and, ignoring the few people that remember Meridian 59, launch the graphical MMORPG or whatever the current "in" abbreviation is nowadays.
The real question, now, is who can be trusted to make fun games that are not work (i.e. EQ). Is there any game designer or publisher willing to put out a truly innovative and fun game, something that doesn't rehash the same basic game design points that we have been playing the past 6 years? FPS frag-a-thons with improved graphics, MMORPG's better graphics and more delivery quests, RTS clickfests, turn-based strategy games...nothing new has come out in a long time that was also fun.
On Marketplace today they discussed the GDC and the growing interest of Hollywood. With the growing dominance of EA and the interest of Hollywood, are we looking at the beginning of the decline (so far as quality, innovation, and "fun" are concerned) and the introduction of a new phase of "gaming" as pre-packaged entertainment for the masses?
Does anyone else fear that when gaming no longer has the "I'm MrWa. I'm a gamer" connotation and becomes mainstream that the development stage - and the fun with it - has ended?
Do you have to sit the entire time? Instead of sitting for 12 hours at a stretch, you could actually stretch during that time. Unless you actively doing something the entire time - sounds unlikely and you are probably watching something - you can watch whatever it is you are supposed be watching and stretch at the same time. Not only will this be healthier, it will help you stay alert and perform better.
Be sure to get out on your days off. Don't think that three days of no work equals a three day weekend where you can game for 24+ hours at a time. Take advantage of the extended time off that most of us, with jobs, dream about and go places, do stuff, and be active!
At the moment we are drafting a bill and a number of senators (Biden, Lehey, Kennedy) have expressed interest in introducing it.
It is disconcerting to hear "straight from the horse's mouth" that a lobbyist is writing a bill that will be introduced by a senator. One more example of how far the U.S. has gotten from a government that represents the people.
Even though most people on/. will be glad to hear that something will be done to support VOIP, we can be reasonably sure that any bill you draft will be in the interest of the VOIP providers and not in the interest of the public those senators were elected to represent.
You know the important attribute for the "CEO of Spyware Company" character class is low CHA, not high INT.
He should re-roll and max out INT to use the "Magic Wand of Bullshit Cloudkill" and be able to cast "Confusion" from a scroll. I'm sure he can find a CHA ring by searching the My Documents folder of one of his "customers".
Does it bother anyone else that federal officers will attempt to pass a law just because they "feel" they have the power, and "feel" something is needed? If there must be standards, why not let the bloody states set them and stop trying to distend the limits of federal authority beyond all recognizable bounds?
Because politicians find that running on a smaller government, states's rights, platform is great but once in office they realize that they have "power" and they damn well intend to use it.
I agree that things should be left to the States, or even the people, as the Constitution was written but those days are, sadly, long past. All we (the US) will be getting is more and more Federal government and regulations.
Along the lines of bugs, KDE's bug tracking system just reached it 100000 *reported* bug (not open) On the kde news site ther is a story about it include tips on how you can help report bugs/problems that you find in KDE to help make it better.
Maybe tips on fixing bugs would be more useful - the reporting side of things seems well in hand!:-)
The summary is not quite accurate regarding Firefox 1.1 being based on Mozilla 1.8; my understanding of the roadmap is that Gecko 1.8 - which is used in Mozilla - will form the base of the Firefox 1.1 program. Maybe just a technicality but it is different to say the base on which the programs will built is the same, rather than Firefox will be a stripped down version of Mozilla.
Slashdot Mirror
Maybe a good way to cut down on piracy...
which is also about how long the game would last, until people get away from the current mindset of watching the numbers. For the most part, people playing the current crop of MMORPG's would be just as happy watching a spreadsheet of formulas being slowly incremented, with the occasional loud DING and some whizbang graphics...
The other problem, in the US, is that people are sold this idea that they must have a car - for the freedom of the road. Since the % of population riding public transportation is low, the incentive isn't there to make as many lines and stations as necessary to make the train the most convenient option. This is doubly confounded in LA, and their love affair with cars - see New York or Boston for cities that can make the train system work.
Nagasaki Airport
Anakin is the chosen one (you are right there) and did bring balance to the force, for a couple decades, but not by throwing Sidious over the ledge.
In the beginning of EP 1 there was the Jedi Council and that was it - the Sith were assumed extinct. Before the presence of the Sith is revealed, the Jedi all start rubbing their chins, thinking that young Anakin will bring "balance" to the Force since he is so powerful.
Hello - there are nothing but Jedi running around until the two Sith Lords appear.
Ignoring any backstory (which I don't know or care to know), from watching the movies, it is obvious that Anakin DID bring balance to force - by eliminating all the Jedi but two - leaving Obi Wan and Yoda on the light side and Sidious and Vader on the dark side. Balance. QED.
Not exactly what the Jedi Council had in mind, but then prophecies can be hard to interpret sometimes. If we take into account the story Sidious tells during the opera, it could even be assumed that Anakin was the product of the dark side to begin with (would the Jedi have dabbled in creating life??) and that the "everything was proceeding to plan" the entire time?
They never say that dropping out of college will help you get a job - ever notice that these highly successful college dropouts started their own company and didn't go to work for someone else? There's a lesson in there for you.
From the initial hope of Garriot creating a company and starting Tabula Rosa - Blank Slate! A fresh start! - to the shock at NCSoft buying the nascent company, to this rethinking of the game entirely is almost as painful as the sudden cancellation of UO2.
Can you let me know where I can find some girls that have been around?
You could start here and see if that helps.
Exactly. Part of the reason that Dell does not go with AMD is also their lack of manufacturing flexibility. Look for AMD to partner with a major foundry player to help create more wafer start ability - that will placate Dell.
How are US submarine reactors unsafe?
--
The conservative right is always gloriously wrong. Always.
Ideological? Obstinate? As non-open-minded as the "conservative right"? Thank you for ensuring that US politics remains the unresponsive, unrepresentative, bipolar mess that it is today! Your fellow Democrats and Republicans thank you, I'm sure.
More on subject: Party like a Mormon, baby!!
I heard a review of " Wrong About Japan" on NPR a while back and the premise is pretty accurate. People from outside of Japan tend to put either too much meaning, the wrong meaning, or totally miss the meaning of many things that are basic in Japan. It isn't something you can prevent but you can be ready for it by keeping an open mind (which you most likely already have.) Just don't let your anime and web experience cloud your view.
I can't find the link but someone had a pretty accurate view of Japanese language students and the misconceptions or "reasons" they think they know Japan and its' culture (but are typically wrong.) The best bet is to accept you don't know and go with it...
Never!
You choose to put a foot in your mouth and you just have to learn to like it!
The subscription/cost model is a little difficult to understand, though. I understand that you must buy land and IP of anything you create in Second Life belongs to you (I assume they mean copyright when referring to IP - hard to tell). What about the servers, though? Until they allow interconnections and expansion outside of their server farm, whatever they say about IP and user rights go out the window if they go belly up. Which means that there is the strong chance of designer intervention and not necessarily in the best interests of the residents, if that is what you want to call them.
Overall, though, I think that Second Life is one of the more interesting concepts in MMORPG's and one or two generations later may lead to some real advances towards a Metaverse type world.
The real question, now, is who can be trusted to make fun games that are not work (i.e. EQ). Is there any game designer or publisher willing to put out a truly innovative and fun game, something that doesn't rehash the same basic game design points that we have been playing the past 6 years? FPS frag-a-thons with improved graphics, MMORPG's better graphics and more delivery quests, RTS clickfests, turn-based strategy games...nothing new has come out in a long time that was also fun.
On Marketplace today they discussed the GDC and the growing interest of Hollywood. With the growing dominance of EA and the interest of Hollywood, are we looking at the beginning of the decline (so far as quality, innovation, and "fun" are concerned) and the introduction of a new phase of "gaming" as pre-packaged entertainment for the masses?
Does anyone else fear that when gaming no longer has the "I'm MrWa. I'm a gamer" connotation and becomes mainstream that the development stage - and the fun with it - has ended?
Be sure to get out on your days off. Don't think that three days of no work equals a three day weekend where you can game for 24+ hours at a time. Take advantage of the extended time off that most of us, with jobs, dream about and go places, do stuff, and be active!
Even though most people on /. will be glad to hear that something will be done to support VOIP, we can be reasonably sure that any bill you draft will be in the interest of the VOIP providers and not in the interest of the public those senators were elected to represent.
He should re-roll and max out INT to use the "Magic Wand of Bullshit Cloudkill" and be able to cast "Confusion" from a scroll. I'm sure he can find a CHA ring by searching the My Documents folder of one of his "customers".
I agree that things should be left to the States, or even the people, as the Constitution was written but those days are, sadly, long past. All we (the US) will be getting is more and more Federal government and regulations.
The summary is not quite accurate regarding Firefox 1.1 being based on Mozilla 1.8; my understanding of the roadmap is that Gecko 1.8 - which is used in Mozilla - will form the base of the Firefox 1.1 program. Maybe just a technicality but it is different to say the base on which the programs will built is the same, rather than Firefox will be a stripped down version of Mozilla.
UMC is still in Taiwan. They have gotten in trouble for investing in China, if I recall correctly, but they have not opened a fab on the mainland yet.
That is strange. The amount of sucking involved is what gets Cinemax my business.