But, sadly, I never completed the main quest line. An NPC bugged out on me and I could find no console commands to fix it. Add to that I had no recent saved games I could continue from and I just gave up entirely.
I do plan to go back and play it through again.. Maybe soon. I might even get that Knights of the Nine add-on.
You know what else? They need to take commericals out of the previews for movies. I don't go to a movie theater to watch commericals. Three billion previews is bad enough. Now I have to watch ads for pepsi and apple? BHAUIBGHZZARGH!!L!AH!!!
If we all just stop going to movie theaters until they get rid of the commericals before the movie maybe we can get them gone for good.
Personally, I find it's much easier to get movies from... ahem... well anyway, to watch them in the comfort of my home on my 60" HDTV, with no commercials or previews, and the option to pause the movie to go to the bathroom. Not to mention no more loud, annoying fat women behind me who talk during the whole movie and laugh like hyenas at everything even if it's not funny. (ok that was harsh, but I'm telling you, it has happened)
I'm all for it. There needs to be a website to schedule this.. Boycott movies due to commericals. Boycott DVD etc due to the horrible DRM. In fact, I think I'll make one. I'll come up with a good name, something memorable, and let's see if this 'simple' idea works;)
But is Microsoft the right one to enforce this? Even if sole proprietorship or general partnership might be inadvisable, it isn't illegal, and Microsoft or anyone else who is not the government has absolutely no jurisdiction and no mandate to make it so.
Something seems definitely out of bounds here...
What, like the fact that it's a free market and whoever provides the 'safest' service has a leg up? (notice safest is in quotes) Seems pretty normal to me. What exactly is out of bounds about this? And, by out of bounds I hope you literally mean illegal, because everything else is considered in bounds. I personally don't even think it's unethical. It's just business.
And nobody is enforcing the creation of LLCs. Like someone else has said already, plenty of people will come to ignore the green bar altogether. And like another person said, how long do you think it will take for this to get completely hacked to allow phishing sites themselves to be green-bar? If anything, I predict it's a 'feature' that won't last very long. False senses of security are worse than having no sense of security. As soon as word gets out that the green bar was hacked it loses all credibility. You get right back to word-of-mouth and reviews/testimonials from trusted sources to get information about what websites are good and bad and you trust no others. It's that simple.
How much have the network protocols changed since IE was released? And now in version 7 we actually have a program that can (supposedly) capably utilize the protocols? Hell. I guess this is news.
Actually, tidal plants do require nuclear power to work. Were it not for the sun keeping water warm it would freeze. Then what kind of tidal power would we get?;p
The next article will be about proving that oranges are orange.
Let's face it: ads suck. Sometimes, rarely, we might be happy to have watched one. But usually, and I mean a vast majority of the time, we just want ads to go away.
For video game ads the only thing I take from them is:
- The name - The genre - The platform
Ads for video games are like pictures of women in magazines like Maxim -- they're air-brushed extravagances of the real thing that in no way resemble what the actual woman would look like without all the extra work. Of course, YMMV.
Welcome to Earth. We humans (well, most of us) consider tits, breasts, boobs, gazungas, knockers and jugs (among may other names) beautiful. Some of us even consider football beautiful (unless it's this years Steelers). Violence can even be beautiful for the right reasons. Some people (mostly celibate monks) probably disagree. Lucky for us game publishers their definition of beautiful is far different than the average game player... Que Será, Será.
No, the summary talks about "beautiful and visually stunning game[s]." Games like Okami and Ico are beautiful beyond the graphical aspects--there's a beauty to their story, feel, and gameplay. Those are the type of games that we're talking about when we discuss possible "prestige" games, not games with all visual splendor and no depth.
If these prestige games have beautiful story, feel and gameplay then I fail to see why they won't sell well. I think they should. So why are we talking about poor sales? If a game doesn't sell well then I further submit to you that it must have some critical flaw involving your aforementioned beautiful aspects. Neh?
I'm not saying it is an either-or choice. I am saying that art has no gaming value unless infused with gameplay elements. So you can have the most visually beautiful thing in the world but no gamer is going to buy it if it's not really a game (or has poor gameplay)
The summary talks about visually beautiful and stunning games and in the same thought refers to gameplay. Well, which one do you want? I think we've all established by now that gameplay comes first. So while I do understand the concept that games can be art, I disagree that art can be games - and the sales will show I'm right.
As a WoW player from release (well beta, but beta doesn't count really for various reasons when talking about skill) I have a few things to say about the challenge level in WoW.
If you're into PvP skill becomes a factor immediately. Two equally skilled players will often have good, hard-fought, battles. It's very obvious when you encounter someone in PvP who isn't skilled -- you steamroll them almost effortlessly.
What about PvE (or player versus world/environment, i.e. single player)?
Well yes, less skill is required to grind single mobs outside in the open world. But you aren't limited to just that. What I do is play two characters at one time (alt-tabbing between them). I play a warrior/priest combo. Talk about a challenge controlling two at once. If you get it down you can take out monsters that no solo player ever could. You can solo parts of instances that no solo player ever could and use it to make money. You can twink out your low level players.. There are many entertaining options (if you're willing to pay the extra $15/mo that is)
People would want Vista if it were revolutionary. But you can't just sit down and say 'let's make something revolutionary' and then set up a timeline and claim to be able to create a revolution within that timeframe. Revolutions happen by accident if at all, not on purpose.
So why hurry? For money? In my experience hurrying to make money never works out.
I'm not surprised that you don't like WoW. A lot of people don't like it merely because it's popular. Maybe you're one of them, I don't know. A lot of people don't like WoW because they can't stand how long it takes to get the best gear. Perhaps those people should see the changes Blizzard is making with 2.0 and the expansion. And even more people think that in WoW if you don't raid with 40 people you can never compete. So that is the whole casual vs. hard-core debate. Again, I offer that these people take a look at the changes Blizzard is making regarding this issue.
I'm not surprised you decided to use the word 'moron' to describe people who play WoW. Given your previous statements you are obviously highly opinionated about your MMORPGs.
But you are simply wrong IMHO. The Fantasy genre may be crowded... But the reason these other games aren't making a strong profit or even staying afloat has less to do with crowding as the fact that World of Warcraft is just that good. You can argue against it all you want, but the numbers will prove you wrong. Money talks and you apparently choose not to listen. That's your choice.
People choose WoW because they like it. They don't choose other games because they choose WoW. And guess what, someday WoW will get trumped by something new.
Your argument is like saying when DVD overtook VHS that the recording medium market was 'too crowded' for VHS to survive. Wrong. DVD (WoW) is just that much better. Or are you going to argue that VHS is better now?
Well, to be honest I didn't think anyone would take offense to the use of music in commercials. It's pretty clear to me that music is ubiquitous in commericals. I consider this just 'normal' and not inappropriate. Furthermore, to say that a company using music in an advertisement is self-serving is completely redundant.. of course it is. They're trying to make money after all.
Which leaves aesthetics. To me, the song fit perfectly with the visuals on screen. So much so it was almost eerie. I found it to be a very pleasing combination. As, I am sure, did many many others.
And finally: sarcasm.
I didn't miss it.. rather, I found it misplaced in your comment.
Just try to tell me you can read your comment and not get the sense it was generally negative in nature. Whereas mine was an exaggeration playing off the words you used, the 'leetsp34k' or whatever you want to call it.
OMGZ! M1CR()5OFT uZED A SONG IN A COMMERICAL THAT sumBOdY! ELSE! WROTEZ! Nobody elze ever d0z that ever!!!!!!!1eleven Not APPLE, NOT IBM, NOT ANYBODY BUT MICROSLOTH!@!
A song which was attached to a commerical which grabbed the attention of millions and made them get shivers down their spine from the sheer amount of awesome. Ten karma points to whoever replies to this with the name of the song and the artist.
Desktop #1: system things Desktop #2: web browsing Desktop #3: coding Desktop #4: running the program I'm coding Desktop #5: email Desktop #8: alternate coding environment for a different project Desktop #9: alternate program running environment Desktop #11: syslog output and whatnot for a machine in a different state that I'm responsible for Desktop #12: xmms and interface with my web radio
Why can't these be on one desktop? Why is it better that they're on 9 separate ones? Seems to unnecessarily complicate matters.
And about #15... devoting an entire desktop to pornography... sad.
But if it's how you like it, who am I to tell you to change it. You claim it works the best for you. I happen to think you tell yourself that you get more done (and may even go so far as to subconsciously convince yourself it's true) when in fact you probably could get more done if you consolidated some of this.
If I am doing web work, say writing some PHP or HTML, I generally have:
- Window for previewing/testing the website - Window for editing the source files (I use HAPedit a lot for editing) - Window for showing the source files on my HDD - Window for FTP to server to upload files from my HDD - Window for surfing the internet to do research/learn about PHP etc (this is consistent) - Window for music (I suppose winamp counts as a window) - Window for graphics design
To be honest, I can't begin to understand how you would need 25 windows... Unless you are counting tabs within programs like Dreamweaver.. I can understand that you would want to leave browser windows open when you find useful resources, like PHP function description pages for functions you use often.. But 25 still seems fairly high to me.
I find that simple is better when I work. I try not to clutter my workspace and I feel that things move more smoothly.
Give grants to scienrists to study global warming: $5,000,000.00 Pass legislation to Remove CFC pollution from atmosphere: $10,000,000.00 Tackle global warming: $100,000,000,000.00
Human species continues to survive on planet Earth: Priceless.
Slashdot Mirror
News for nerds? No.
Stuff that matters? Not even remotely.
This post does not deliver. 0/2
TLF
Oblivion.
Not because it wasn't a beautiful game. It was.
But, sadly, I never completed the main quest line. An NPC bugged out on me and I could find no console commands to fix it. Add to that I had no recent saved games I could continue from and I just gave up entirely.
I do plan to go back and play it through again.. Maybe soon. I might even get that Knights of the Nine add-on.
TLF
You know what else? They need to take commericals out of the previews for movies. I don't go to a movie theater to watch commericals. Three billion previews is bad enough. Now I have to watch ads for pepsi and apple? BHAUIBGHZZARGH!!L!AH!!!
;)
If we all just stop going to movie theaters until they get rid of the commericals before the movie maybe we can get them gone for good.
Personally, I find it's much easier to get movies from... ahem... well anyway, to watch them in the comfort of my home on my 60" HDTV, with no commercials or previews, and the option to pause the movie to go to the bathroom. Not to mention no more loud, annoying fat women behind me who talk during the whole movie and laugh like hyenas at everything even if it's not funny. (ok that was harsh, but I'm telling you, it has happened)
I'm all for it. There needs to be a website to schedule this.. Boycott movies due to commericals. Boycott DVD etc due to the horrible DRM. In fact, I think I'll make one. I'll come up with a good name, something memorable, and let's see if this 'simple' idea works
TLF
What, like the fact that it's a free market and whoever provides the 'safest' service has a leg up? (notice safest is in quotes) Seems pretty normal to me. What exactly is out of bounds about this? And, by out of bounds I hope you literally mean illegal, because everything else is considered in bounds. I personally don't even think it's unethical. It's just business.
And nobody is enforcing the creation of LLCs. Like someone else has said already, plenty of people will come to ignore the green bar altogether. And like another person said, how long do you think it will take for this to get completely hacked to allow phishing sites themselves to be green-bar? If anything, I predict it's a 'feature' that won't last very long. False senses of security are worse than having no sense of security. As soon as word gets out that the green bar was hacked it loses all credibility. You get right back to word-of-mouth and reviews/testimonials from trusted sources to get information about what websites are good and bad and you trust no others. It's that simple.
TLF
How much have the network protocols changed since IE was released? And now in version 7 we actually have a program that can (supposedly) capably utilize the protocols? Hell. I guess this is news.
TLF
Actually, tidal plants do require nuclear power to work. Were it not for the sun keeping water warm it would freeze. Then what kind of tidal power would we get? ;p
TLF
The next article will be about proving that oranges are orange.
Let's face it: ads suck. Sometimes, rarely, we might be happy to have watched one. But usually, and I mean a vast majority of the time, we just want ads to go away.
For video game ads the only thing I take from them is:
- The name
- The genre
- The platform
Ads for video games are like pictures of women in magazines like Maxim -- they're air-brushed extravagances of the real thing that in no way resemble what the actual woman would look like without all the extra work. Of course, YMMV.
TLF
Welcome to Earth. We humans (well, most of us) consider tits, breasts, boobs, gazungas, knockers and jugs (among may other names) beautiful. Some of us even consider football beautiful (unless it's this years Steelers). Violence can even be beautiful for the right reasons. Some people (mostly celibate monks) probably disagree. Lucky for us game publishers their definition of beautiful is far different than the average game player... Que Será, Será.
TLF
If these prestige games have beautiful story, feel and gameplay then I fail to see why they won't sell well. I think they should. So why are we talking about poor sales? If a game doesn't sell well then I further submit to you that it must have some critical flaw involving your aforementioned beautiful aspects. Neh?
TLF
I'm not saying it is an either-or choice. I am saying that art has no gaming value unless infused with gameplay elements. So you can have the most visually beautiful thing in the world but no gamer is going to buy it if it's not really a game (or has poor gameplay)
TLF
The summary talks about visually beautiful and stunning games and in the same thought refers to gameplay. Well, which one do you want? I think we've all established by now that gameplay comes first. So while I do understand the concept that games can be art, I disagree that art can be games - and the sales will show I'm right.
TLF
When I first heard of WoW I pictured Warcraft on the MMO scale. World PvP. City raids. Realm vs. Realm. Epic PvP.
That never materialized. And I think when I say this that I speak for many people: The prospect of it finally arriving (in WAR) has me very excited.
TLF
As a WoW player from release (well beta, but beta doesn't count really for various reasons when talking about skill) I have a few things to say about the challenge level in WoW.
If you're into PvP skill becomes a factor immediately. Two equally skilled players will often have good, hard-fought, battles. It's very obvious when you encounter someone in PvP who isn't skilled -- you steamroll them almost effortlessly.
What about PvE (or player versus world/environment, i.e. single player)?
Well yes, less skill is required to grind single mobs outside in the open world. But you aren't limited to just that. What I do is play two characters at one time (alt-tabbing between them). I play a warrior/priest combo. Talk about a challenge controlling two at once. If you get it down you can take out monsters that no solo player ever could. You can solo parts of instances that no solo player ever could and use it to make money. You can twink out your low level players.. There are many entertaining options (if you're willing to pay the extra $15/mo that is)
TLF
Semantics.
The definition I find most fitting for hurry: 4. to impel or perform with undue haste: to hurry someone into a decision.
The key word (at least to me) is undue.
TLF
People would want Vista if it were revolutionary. But you can't just sit down and say 'let's make something revolutionary' and then set up a timeline and claim to be able to create a revolution within that timeframe. Revolutions happen by accident if at all, not on purpose.
So why hurry? For money? In my experience hurrying to make money never works out.
TLF
I'm not surprised that you don't like WoW. A lot of people don't like it merely because it's popular. Maybe you're one of them, I don't know. A lot of people don't like WoW because they can't stand how long it takes to get the best gear. Perhaps those people should see the changes Blizzard is making with 2.0 and the expansion. And even more people think that in WoW if you don't raid with 40 people you can never compete. So that is the whole casual vs. hard-core debate. Again, I offer that these people take a look at the changes Blizzard is making regarding this issue.
I'm not surprised you decided to use the word 'moron' to describe people who play WoW. Given your previous statements you are obviously highly opinionated about your MMORPGs.
But you are simply wrong IMHO. The Fantasy genre may be crowded... But the reason these other games aren't making a strong profit or even staying afloat has less to do with crowding as the fact that World of Warcraft is just that good. You can argue against it all you want, but the numbers will prove you wrong. Money talks and you apparently choose not to listen. That's your choice.
People choose WoW because they like it. They don't choose other games because they choose WoW. And guess what, someday WoW will get trumped by something new.
Your argument is like saying when DVD overtook VHS that the recording medium market was 'too crowded' for VHS to survive. Wrong. DVD (WoW) is just that much better. Or are you going to argue that VHS is better now?
TLF
Can we please get a poll? I feel naked without a poll.
I will continue to burn karma until a poll is posted!
TLF
Well, to be honest I didn't think anyone would take offense to the use of music in commercials. It's pretty clear to me that music is ubiquitous in commericals. I consider this just 'normal' and not inappropriate. Furthermore, to say that a company using music in an advertisement is self-serving is completely redundant.. of course it is. They're trying to make money after all.
Which leaves aesthetics. To me, the song fit perfectly with the visuals on screen. So much so it was almost eerie. I found it to be a very pleasing combination. As, I am sure, did many many others.
And finally: sarcasm.
I didn't miss it.. rather, I found it misplaced in your comment.
Just try to tell me you can read your comment and not get the sense it was generally negative in nature. Whereas mine was an exaggeration playing off the words you used, the 'leetsp34k' or whatever you want to call it.
TLF
OMGZ! M1CR()5OFT uZED A SONG IN A COMMERICAL THAT sumBOdY! ELSE! WROTEZ! Nobody elze ever d0z that ever!!!!!!!1eleven Not APPLE, NOT IBM, NOT ANYBODY BUT MICROSLOTH!@!
Correct!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_World_(song)
There you will see the cover was done by Gary Jules for the film Donnie Darko.
Sadly, I cannot award karma points... But I could burn off ten of my own, maybe that's fair?
TLF
A song which was attached to a commerical which grabbed the attention of millions and made them get shivers down their spine from the sheer amount of awesome. Ten karma points to whoever replies to this with the name of the song and the artist.
The rest is history.
TLF
Germany has banned "human nature" in hopes to put an end to violence. Results pending.
TLF
Desktop #1: system things
Desktop #2: web browsing
Desktop #3: coding
Desktop #4: running the program I'm coding
Desktop #5: email
Desktop #8: alternate coding environment for a different project
Desktop #9: alternate program running environment
Desktop #11: syslog output and whatnot for a machine in a different state that I'm responsible for
Desktop #12: xmms and interface with my web radio
Why can't these be on one desktop? Why is it better that they're on 9 separate ones? Seems to unnecessarily complicate matters.
And about #15... devoting an entire desktop to pornography... sad.
But if it's how you like it, who am I to tell you to change it. You claim it works the best for you. I happen to think you tell yourself that you get more done (and may even go so far as to subconsciously convince yourself it's true) when in fact you probably could get more done if you consolidated some of this.
TLF
If I am doing web work, say writing some PHP or HTML, I generally have:
- Window for previewing/testing the website
- Window for editing the source files (I use HAPedit a lot for editing)
- Window for showing the source files on my HDD
- Window for FTP to server to upload files from my HDD
- Window for surfing the internet to do research/learn about PHP etc (this is consistent)
- Window for music (I suppose winamp counts as a window)
- Window for graphics design
To be honest, I can't begin to understand how you would need 25 windows... Unless you are counting tabs within programs like Dreamweaver.. I can understand that you would want to leave browser windows open when you find useful resources, like PHP function description pages for functions you use often.. But 25 still seems fairly high to me.
I find that simple is better when I work. I try not to clutter my workspace and I feel that things move more smoothly.
TLF
Give grants to scienrists to study global warming: $5,000,000.00
Pass legislation to Remove CFC pollution from atmosphere: $10,000,000.00
Tackle global warming: $100,000,000,000.00
Human species continues to survive on planet Earth: Priceless.
Seriously, anything is cheaper than death.
lrn2tckle