Um, not sure about you but I have never heard of a virus that grants eternal youth, makes my expresso machine perform wonders, or eliminates having to empty the toilet.
For that matter, increasing the chance of being abducted by aliens from slight to 100% sounds quite unlike a real life virus as well.
I'd say this is EXACTLYNOT like real life. Of course, you can get a virus by inserting a module from an unknown party but that is something most/.'ers don't need to worry about.
What should I do!!?!?!? Worse yet, it goes back to Friday the 13th!!
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This was in Back to School, when Kurt Vonnegut wrote a book report for Rodney Dangerfield and the professor gave the report a failing grade.
As for this complaint - it should be expected that movies based on a book will be different. Not only because of the medium change but the intepretation that must take place when a new person "directs" the story. Unless the author is intimately involved in the production there will be interpretation, assumptions, marketing requirements, and wild-ass guessing that changes the final cut of the movie from the book.
Don't like it? Don't sell the rights to your book.
So...where are the comparisons to buggy whip makers and obosoleted or inefficient workers when it comes to IT workers?
If the technology or cheaper labor exists, shouldn't businesses make use of them - just as the music industry should make use of new technology and not depend on legislation to save a dying business model?
How, though, is WoW anything more than EQ with better graphics and more thought out quests?
I think what I was aiming for was a game that does not have "levels" and does not need endgame material because you will not get to the "end" (i.e. the final level).
I just don't see how WoW will - in the long run - be any different than EQ. It is, in essense, an incremental improvement and not an evolutionary jump in gaming. Ever since MMO started gaining popularity with UO and EQ, they have been basically the same. I think what people are looking for is something different, not just something that takes the same basic concept and improves on it.
PS WoW is FUN. For now. But I can see how, in six months, it will become old. That is what upsets me...
When will a MMO game come out where the players are actually PART of the world. Even the most recent game, WoW, the majority of quests that you perform have no real impact - you do play a part in the story line, moving item A to location B, but you can create a new character and do the exact same quest! So, basically, my first character did nothing!
What about a sense of place or ownership. In UO, players could own a house. This gives a sense of permeance to the character, a sense of belonging. In all the MMO's sense that time, the characters exist only to grind - kill and loot an endless supply of computer controlled opponents. WoW is no different.
As for grind - the very aspect of having character levels, with an obvious experience bar, promotes the grind aspect of the game. Grinding may now involve completing quests, but that is still grinding, and will end up being about as fun in the long run.
There really is no difference in the end. The game does look better, may have some features that differentiates the game play on a minor level, and has a certain "newness" that is appealing, but in the end the game will be just like all the MMO games out there.
Take one of the other replies to your post:
My friend and I spent a good few months playing AC2, but stopped when we pretty much hit a level cap and had other things to do anyway. However, we both have several characters on WoW, as it is actually fun to try out all the variations. They are all, well, variant.
So...WoW has a level cap and some variation but, honestly, not THAT much difference to keep people sick of the level grind coming back. Same as happened in AC2...
So what - in the LONG run - will keep people playing? Probably nothing. The lasting community part of the MMO genre is not needed, as long as there is fresh blood (subscribers) to keep the revenue stream going.
I believe your lament - beyond the "this is just same as the other games but newer" part - is that the lasting aspect of the game is missing. Something that keeps people playing a game - beyond the level grind - will require a shift in paradigm from the current genre. EQ popularized the level grind and was quite successful, so that is what will be emulated. UO, with the quick "level up" but no "endgame" is the opposite - it became a graphical chatroom. Some game that can remove the tedious nature of the EQ-like games, while providing substantial character variation in a meaningful and beneficial manner, that has fun and rewarding content for a player at any stage of advancement is probably the holy grail of MMO designs.
Because you (IT workers) let it happen. The job isn't really exempt, in that you basically do just what you are told to do and it honestly does not require a lot of higher education to perform, but back when the options, salary, and perks blinded IT workers into thinking that being exempt was "da bomb" it kind of stuck.
Maybe you should unionize, now that the perks are gone and programmers are becoming the new assembly line workers?
If, however, it should turn out that he has won Ohio, for example, when all the ballots are counted, then he will still gain Ohio's electoral votes and, presumably, the presidency, in spite of the fact that he has conceded defeat.
Proving once and for all that he truly is a flip-flopper. Four years making fun of Kerry being president when he stopped trying will be fun!!
An illustration of how everyone wants ".com", no matter how appropriate.
Which also makes the recurring push for more TLD's so useless. All it will end up doing it making the registrars more money because everyone will have to go register their domain, again, to prevent someone from making porn site with a name that is confusingly close.
The possibilities are endless...but obviously there's something seriously wrong with the concept because all we keep getting are tiresome sword and sorcery games and online adaptations of megafranchises such as Star Wars."
Maybe the reason is that these types of "tiresome" games are not showing any sign of maturation and there really is no reason to try something that may or may not work. If the same formula keeps working and growing the consumer base, there isn't a reason to innovate yet.
Very good question! This can also be said of Mason & Dixon. I am amazed at how similiar the writing styles and level of detail seem to be, yet the comparison is so seldomly made. Pynchon, of course, seems to have the edge on obscure references and attention to detail but the writing styles are quite similiar.
Slashdot Mirror
Doesn't
do the same thing - without using goto?For that matter, increasing the chance of being abducted by aliens from slight to 100% sounds quite unlike a real life virus as well.
I'd say this is EXACTLY NOT like real life. Of course, you can get a virus by inserting a module from an unknown party but that is something most /.'ers don't need to worry about.
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Tue Jan 19 03:14:01 2038
Tue Jan 19 03:14:02 2038
Tue Jan 19 03:14:03 2038
Tue Jan 19 03:14:04 2038
Tue Jan 19 03:14:05 2038
Tue Jan 19 03:14:06 2038
Tue Jan 19 03:14:07 2038
Fri Dec 13 20:45:52 1901
Fri Dec 13 20:45:52 1901
Fri Dec 13 20:45:52 1901
He "manages" in the most obvious sense of the word. What did doesn't do well is "lead".
As for this complaint - it should be expected that movies based on a book will be different. Not only because of the medium change but the intepretation that must take place when a new person "directs" the story. Unless the author is intimately involved in the production there will be interpretation, assumptions, marketing requirements, and wild-ass guessing that changes the final cut of the movie from the book.
Don't like it? Don't sell the rights to your book.
"Hi. Consumer? Remember that $19.99 price undercut? Yeah. F*** you."
Can a computer simulate the complete idiocy of the BCS? The computer component, sure, but what about the fickle voters?
is this a website to find bored, lonely housewives looking for a good time?
No, it would be in everyone's best interest if the FAA stayed out.
If the technology or cheaper labor exists, shouldn't businesses make use of them - just as the music industry should make use of new technology and not depend on legislation to save a dying business model?
I think what I was aiming for was a game that does not have "levels" and does not need endgame material because you will not get to the "end" (i.e. the final level).
I just don't see how WoW will - in the long run - be any different than EQ. It is, in essense, an incremental improvement and not an evolutionary jump in gaming. Ever since MMO started gaining popularity with UO and EQ, they have been basically the same. I think what people are looking for is something different, not just something that takes the same basic concept and improves on it.
PS WoW is FUN. For now. But I can see how, in six months, it will become old. That is what upsets me...
What about a sense of place or ownership. In UO, players could own a house. This gives a sense of permeance to the character, a sense of belonging. In all the MMO's sense that time, the characters exist only to grind - kill and loot an endless supply of computer controlled opponents. WoW is no different.
As for grind - the very aspect of having character levels, with an obvious experience bar, promotes the grind aspect of the game. Grinding may now involve completing quests, but that is still grinding, and will end up being about as fun in the long run.
Take one of the other replies to your post:
So...WoW has a level cap and some variation but, honestly, not THAT much difference to keep people sick of the level grind coming back. Same as happened in AC2...
So what - in the LONG run - will keep people playing? Probably nothing. The lasting community part of the MMO genre is not needed, as long as there is fresh blood (subscribers) to keep the revenue stream going.
I believe your lament - beyond the "this is just same as the other games but newer" part - is that the lasting aspect of the game is missing. Something that keeps people playing a game - beyond the level grind - will require a shift in paradigm from the current genre. EQ popularized the level grind and was quite successful, so that is what will be emulated. UO, with the quick "level up" but no "endgame" is the opposite - it became a graphical chatroom. Some game that can remove the tedious nature of the EQ-like games, while providing substantial character variation in a meaningful and beneficial manner, that has fun and rewarding content for a player at any stage of advancement is probably the holy grail of MMO designs.
How does the stock exchange work again?
No.
Any other questions?
Ah, thanks. That is more than I would have thought.
20% of what?
Because you (IT workers) let it happen. The job isn't really exempt, in that you basically do just what you are told to do and it honestly does not require a lot of higher education to perform, but back when the options, salary, and perks blinded IT workers into thinking that being exempt was "da bomb" it kind of stuck.
Maybe you should unionize, now that the perks are gone and programmers are becoming the new assembly line workers?
Is his website blind-friendly?
Proving once and for all that he truly is a flip-flopper. Four years making fun of Kerry being president when he stopped trying will be fun!!
Which also makes the recurring push for more TLD's so useless. All it will end up doing it making the registrars more money because everyone will have to go register their domain, again, to prevent someone from making porn site with a name that is confusingly close.
I think your formula has a serious flaw, unless your Hookosity enjoyment is increased by a higher chance of getting STDs!!!!
Maybe the reason is that these types of "tiresome" games are not showing any sign of maturation and there really is no reason to try something that may or may not work. If the same formula keeps working and growing the consumer base, there isn't a reason to innovate yet.
Very good question! This can also be said of Mason & Dixon. I am amazed at how similiar the writing styles and level of detail seem to be, yet the comparison is so seldomly made. Pynchon, of course, seems to have the edge on obscure references and attention to detail but the writing styles are quite similiar.
Predestination or freewill?