I mostly agree with you. However, I believe that if you have a network that contains sensitive data, it should be secured in the first place. I made a lame joke trying to point out that this really is not about "My Rights Online". It seems that according to almighty slashdot, that somehow This has a thing to do with "My Rights Online". If the U.S. Federal Govt. ever tries to filter or block out "questionable material" (sites on Islam, etc...), then I will consider it "My Rights Online". I do think we need more public scrutiny of the HSD, especially when it consolidates what, 30 or so previous departments. But then again, the general public really dosen't seem to care. I mean we live in a society where lawmakers can actually vote themselves a pay raise. Wow, thats one ramblin' rant.
Secure Networks?!? My god what a concept! This is such a direct assault on my constitutional rights! Damn Feds! Next they'll want me to actually supervise my own childeren!
Yes, thank god they put their customers first. Of course now all those people will have to actually buy games, and small retail stores can stop losing money. On the homebrew side, get a GP32 for your portable needs, and get a dreamcast or write code for the PC for your home needs.
That's why I said "who thinks they'll notice". I'm also curious as to how many ACTUAL RETAIL sales of Brittney Spears and N'Sync (amongst others) there are. I'm sure any numbers the RIAA throws at us are doctored a little, not including those extra that retailers had to buy to get any at all... Aw hell, I'm drunk...
Who thinks they'll notice us open source nutjobs not buying their "protected content"? Oh wait, I forgot, all us open souce nutjobs just want to "steal". Damn, I feel dirty...
They took the cooling fan off the "Custom GPU"? Even with that fan going the machine could heat my house. Are they trying to ensure that it breaks in 6 months so you'll buy the "Homestation" or what not?
Unless they stop selling GPL'd Linux, and move to their own blend of proprietary Unix... In my opinion it seems that the GPL's main purpose is to keep software vendors from doing the MS shuffle. Just because RedHat is seen as the corporate Linux solution does not make them MS. MS got that way by being the only solution due to their marketing juggernaut. I just don't see this possible with open source products. RedHat sells services, and last I checked there was no monopoly on services... Not even MS can do that. But the business world can't seem to function without finger-pointing...
Game Demo:
http://www.fileplanet.com/index.asp?file=46986
TransGaming Status:
TransGaming has not tested this game. Transgaming is not currently working on this game.
Popularity:
161
User Comments:
Uses the same engine as Quake 2 so may work.
They base compatability on guesswork? Last I checked Elite Force uses the Q3 engine. I would rather use native linux binaries. RTCW works flawlessly for me, and there was minimal hassle on setting it up. Now, if Id had taken the five minutes or so to add these binaries and a setup script to the cd... But that would be too easy. We need to let the game makers know we run linux and would be much more inclined to plop down $50+ for the latest game, if they would provide an easy setup with linux binaries. I know I would.
You're a student of 21? What were the blackjack courses all booked up? You never washed your own clothes before college? Yet you make a valid point about the registry, it is a mess. That and the shifty licensing are the only reasons windows sucks. I too think people should be a little more educated for computer use, but sifting through newsgroups, howto's, and year old docs just trying to get a fucking souncard to work, that's not education, that's geeky obsession.
"Try offering your customers a 14-day "no questions asked" returns policy. As long as they have the receipt, and the goods are in mint condition (opened is OK, damaged in any way is not) then give them a refund if they want it."
In the area we are located, and size of our business forbids the "no questions asked policy". If we started it, We would become a rental store, or we would have to keep black lists of certain customers (lots of them) "Banned" from the store. Plus we've found it not to be an issue, we'll always take defective items back within 30 days, we try repair first, and then offer the customer something else for the same price. Very rarely someone will Demand a refund, and we take those on a case by case basis. But on the whole most people don't want their money back, they want a game. The only people that get indignant about a cash refund are the people you Know would abuse it if given the chance.
"Of course, you should try to get some customer feedback - find out why the game is being returned, whether it won't run, they can't get past the first mission, or it's just not suitable for little Johnny - and try to be as helpful as possible. Where appropriate, suggest alternative courses of action - ask if customers tried downloading relevant drivers and patches, tell them how to beat the first bad guy or sell them a hint book, or suggest an alternative title instead. But always stick to the policy - if the customer wants his money back, then give it to him."
Since we let most used games be peviewed on the store systems, we have very little "this game sucks" returns, often this leads to "this game sucks" no sale for us. But I'd rather lose a sale, then have the customer feel cheated. I do the upsells of strategy guides, and the suggestive sells of "if you like Spyro, try Crash."
"Sure, going down this route has a drawback. There are always going to be one or two that abuse the system - you'll spot them the fifth time they return a game without ever keeping a selection -but they come with the territory. (There are ways of dealing with those kinds of customers on an individual basis, such as not selling to them at all, but better to ignore them in the long run. Just let them know you're watching them and that'll do the trick 90 per cent of the time.)"
With our customer base, one or two is a huge understatement. I have to tell people on a daily basis to take their obviously stolen goods somewhere else, when the same kid tries to sell 5 different gameboys to you in as many weeks, you know whats up. Maybe at some point if we can get our little franchise built up a little, then we can go mainstream, but untill then we have to stay in business.
"But the real benefit of this policy (providing you promote and advertise it properly) is that people who wouldn't normally come into your store will walk across your threshhold. They'll come in and buy stuff - whether it's for themselves, their kids or whoever - because they'll have peace of mind that if something goes wrong then they won't be stuck with a turkey. And once they've had a good customer service experience they'll come back for more and bring their friends with them."
People of all walks already come into our store (more ads definitely needed though), and like I said before we will not stick anyone with turkeys. I'm not trying to be defensive here but It's important to understand we will take anything back, but the only Item we give cash refunds for is unopened still wrapped new games, movies, whatever. Once it is opened, it's used. plain and simple. We'll give store credit for the used price, but no cash. It's worked very well for us and has kept a lot of trouble out of the store.
"The bottom line is this: the better you treat your customers, the better they'll treat you. Give them great prices and great customer service and they'll never shop elsewhere again."
God I wish that were true. We sell most everything for less. We have excellent customer service. But since we're not a mega chain, we are not deemed "cool" by the masses. And I've asked customers why they ever go to these places, and they usually say they just HAD to have that game on release day. Never mind the fact we would have had it a week later for five dollars less, They HAD to have it. People are sheep, and will go wherever TV tells them to.
"(Oh yeah, and if you're feeling real creative, try putting together some kind of customer reward scheme - buy ten titles get the next one free, that sort of thing. Or promote games as they launch - free stuff, like posters, with new titles. Bonus rewards for preordering upcoming releases. If you give it, they will come.)"
Tried sales. Buy three get one free. Management had ideas about if they paid for the item to come into the store, it should be paid for to leave the store. I know, I'm still trying to knock sense in. Clubs or punchcards are flaky at best from my personal experiance. But then I HAD to sell (thats right, membership fee) a club at a certain bookstore I worked at. Underhanded dosen't even begin to describe that experiance... As for preorders and promotional material, I wish to god I could get my hands on some. Being such a small business, we have to go through a secondary distributor which means no release day titles, no displays, no nothing.
"Good luck"
Thanks. we'll need it. People just don't want to buy local, they have to have the absolute latest greatest thing (ex: Xbox). But on the upside almost daily I get people wandering in looking for something to justify that xbox... besides freakin' Halo. I wish I could belive superior customer service and lower prices are truly what consumers wanted. They want the illusion of being better than they are. They get this walking into one of those mega chain stores. Most people frequenting our mall would consider themselves too good to be in our store. Of course when I get better fixture, a decent inventory and cash management system going, and the damn website linked to the inventory database... Thanks for the insights, you raised some valid points, and I hope there's more posts on this topic like that.
I've seen cost and profit numbers for 7-11, some stuff, the markup is insane, other stuff (cigarettes), they even lose money. That's right 7-11 dosen't pay 10% of total retail for every item. Some things it's almost 95%. Now at the game store I work at, a new PS/2 Game (say Medal of Honor: Frontline) Costs us $40. Thats right. $40. We have to pay so much because we don't order tens of thousands of copies from Sony or whoever. We then sell that game for $50. Minus Franchise fee (10%), Minus mall rent (~10%) we might make a cool nickel on it. Now say this same game gets traded in, we give $25 Credit or $15 cash for it, and sell it for $35. Needless to say, we make our money on used games. Now those big dishonest companies I was talking about, might give you $10-$15 Store Credit Only, and turn around and sell the used copy for $48. They make bank new or used, and people actually pay two dollars less for a used copy. Then they come to our store. They take a quick trip back to GameStop,Software Etc.,Babbages, whatever they're calling themselves this week, get a nifty refund, and they find themselves back in the "Lame" Gamestore, paying less. The competing store in our mall has gotten tougher on returns recently I've noticed... Bottom Line, we give more, sell for less, and don't pull underhanded shit whenever we feel like it. But people still keep trudging on to corporate land paying more and generally getting screwed...
My point was that someone will buy/lease the equipment. It's not going to be ripped out of the ground and sold as scrap, just some other corp. will get it. As to you being unemployed, I can't imagine that this wole "Communications" thing is just going to shrivel up and die. Ownership will just change hands. I mean that whole "Internet" thing died right? Everybody shut down their servers and went home, right? Yeah, lots of people got laid off, but on the upside, customer service at McDonalds went way up...
Lines and services will be sold to the highest bidder. It's not like every piece of equipment will be shredded... Can't wait till my local telco goes down. Good ole Qwest. A lot of morons are pointing to all the corporate collapses saying it's the fault of the "Clinton Era" for de-regulation. Wrong. People are fucking greedy. But then again, telling big business they can do whatever they want is like telling a 15 year old boy he can watch whatever he wants on late night cable. Skinamax anyone?
Why not ban ALL telemarketing, junk mail, and spam. NOBODY Likes this crap, and it's a huge waste of resources. Of course that'll put a lot of people out of jobs, but there's got to be SOMETHING these people can do that actually benefits society...
I didn't say I disliked it. What I was trying to get at is that I usually prefer more story, less "you found AncientDragonFireShield +4" or "You Looked around, but nothing was underfoot". I know thats not fair, but so what. I've found from past experiance that anything associated with the D&D license just isn't for me. I tried to like baldurs gate, I really did. And as for me being moved by hype? I never said I wasn't human. We're all affected by it, even though I recognize the need for change, I still get influenced by hype. And so does everyone else. Maybe I just don't take posting on slashdot as seriously as I should...
I don't make my game purchasing decisions based on media awards, I decide on the basis of the game. Right now from what I've seen, Doom 3 will be sucking up disk space on my machine as soon as possible, but then the much much hyped Neverwinter Nights probably will not. I'm not into the click click clickity click dungeon crawl. It may be called Game of the century by every trade publication known to man, But I probably won't buy it. In order for this to be a less media controlled society, we need to stop letting our purchasing decisions influenced by tripe like this. But that of course would require common sense breaking out all over, and ain't gonna happen. Ignoring all that crap, this award basically is for the Best Demo. Not game. When it's finished, then we can call it game of the century, right now it's just a damn pretty demo.
Final Fantasy 11 was the topic of the conversation. FFX requires no extras besides the mem card that you already have, and beats the crap out of any D&D based "Dungeon Crawl". Story=Good Thing. Click Click Click...=Diablo-like bullshit for "Dungeon Masters". Online "Games" are nothing more than chat rooms for obsessed Losers. Get a life. Get a PS2, and stop bitching about HD space standard Linux install is a couple a gigs or so. If my OS takes that much, than a game taking 4.5 is no big deal.
Games on cell phones! I truly have no need of a life whatsover now. Of course not having a life would leave me no reason for a cell phone. Then again most people with cell phones... Hmm. I have no life and want to be able to play even the most mind numbing, ugly ass games wherever I go. Think I'll get me a PDA... Yeah, thats worth $250...
Slashdot Mirror
what's this Itanium I keep hearing about?
I mostly agree with you. However, I believe that if you have a network that contains sensitive data, it should be secured in the first place. I made a lame joke trying to point out that this really is not about "My Rights Online". It seems that according to almighty slashdot, that somehow This has a thing to do with "My Rights Online". If the U.S. Federal Govt. ever tries to filter or block out "questionable material" (sites on Islam, etc...), then I will consider it "My Rights Online". I do think we need more public scrutiny of the HSD, especially when it consolidates what, 30 or so previous departments. But then again, the general public really dosen't seem to care. I mean we live in a society where lawmakers can actually vote themselves a pay raise. Wow, thats one ramblin' rant.
I thought that was the purpose of the Omega 13 device... Oh wait, that was Galaxy Quest...
Secure Networks?!? My god what a concept! This is such a direct assault on my constitutional rights! Damn Feds! Next they'll want me to actually supervise my own childeren!
Yes, thank god they put their customers first. Of course now all those people will have to actually buy games, and small retail stores can stop losing money. On the homebrew side, get a GP32 for your portable needs, and get a dreamcast or write code for the PC for your home needs.
That's why I said "who thinks they'll notice". I'm also curious as to how many ACTUAL RETAIL sales of Brittney Spears and N'Sync (amongst others) there are. I'm sure any numbers the RIAA throws at us are doctored a little, not including those extra that retailers had to buy to get any at all... Aw hell, I'm drunk...
Who thinks they'll notice us open source nutjobs not buying their "protected content"? Oh wait, I forgot, all us open souce nutjobs just want to "steal". Damn, I feel dirty...
They took the cooling fan off the "Custom GPU"? Even with that fan going the machine could heat my house. Are they trying to ensure that it breaks in 6 months so you'll buy the "Homestation" or what not?
Unless they stop selling GPL'd Linux, and move to their own blend of proprietary Unix... In my opinion it seems that the GPL's main purpose is to keep software vendors from doing the MS shuffle. Just because RedHat is seen as the corporate Linux solution does not make them MS. MS got that way by being the only solution due to their marketing juggernaut. I just don't see this possible with open source products. RedHat sells services, and last I checked there was no monopoly on services... Not even MS can do that. But the business world can't seem to function without finger-pointing...
Rating (how well it works in WineX):
4 out of 5
Officially Supported by TransGaming:
no
Game Vendor:
Raven Software
Vendor Website:
http://www.ravensoft.com/eliteforce/
Game Demo:
http://www.fileplanet.com/index.asp?file=46986
TransGaming Status:
TransGaming has not tested this game. Transgaming is not currently working on this game.
Popularity:
161
User Comments:
Uses the same engine as Quake 2 so may work.
They base compatability on guesswork? Last I checked Elite Force uses the Q3 engine. I would rather use native linux binaries. RTCW works flawlessly for me, and there was minimal hassle on setting it up. Now, if Id had taken the five minutes or so to add these binaries and a setup script to the cd... But that would be too easy. We need to let the game makers know we run linux and would be much more inclined to plop down $50+ for the latest game, if they would provide an easy setup with linux binaries. I know I would.
You're a student of 21? What were the blackjack courses all booked up? You never washed your own clothes before college? Yet you make a valid point about the registry, it is a mess. That and the shifty licensing are the only reasons windows sucks. I too think people should be a little more educated for computer use, but sifting through newsgroups, howto's, and year old docs just trying to get a fucking souncard to work, that's not education, that's geeky obsession.
In the area we are located, and size of our business forbids the "no questions asked policy". If we started it, We would become a rental store, or we would have to keep black lists of certain customers (lots of them) "Banned" from the store. Plus we've found it not to be an issue, we'll always take defective items back within 30 days, we try repair first, and then offer the customer something else for the same price. Very rarely someone will Demand a refund, and we take those on a case by case basis. But on the whole most people don't want their money back, they want a game. The only people that get indignant about a cash refund are the people you Know would abuse it if given the chance.
"Of course, you should try to get some customer feedback - find out why the game is being returned, whether it won't run, they can't get past the first mission, or it's just not suitable for little Johnny - and try to be as helpful as possible. Where appropriate, suggest alternative courses of action - ask if customers tried downloading relevant drivers and patches, tell them how to beat the first bad guy or sell them a hint book, or suggest an alternative title instead. But always stick to the policy - if the customer wants his money back, then give it to him."
Since we let most used games be peviewed on the store systems, we have very little "this game sucks" returns, often this leads to "this game sucks" no sale for us. But I'd rather lose a sale, then have the customer feel cheated. I do the upsells of strategy guides, and the suggestive sells of "if you like Spyro, try Crash."
"Sure, going down this route has a drawback. There are always going to be one or two that abuse the system - you'll spot them the fifth time they return a game without ever keeping a selection -but they come with the territory. (There are ways of dealing with those kinds of customers on an individual basis, such as not selling to them at all, but better to ignore them in the long run. Just let them know you're watching them and that'll do the trick 90 per cent of the time.)"
With our customer base, one or two is a huge understatement. I have to tell people on a daily basis to take their obviously stolen goods somewhere else, when the same kid tries to sell 5 different gameboys to you in as many weeks, you know whats up. Maybe at some point if we can get our little franchise built up a little, then we can go mainstream, but untill then we have to stay in business.
"But the real benefit of this policy (providing you promote and advertise it properly) is that people who wouldn't normally come into your store will walk across your threshhold. They'll come in and buy stuff - whether it's for themselves, their kids or whoever - because they'll have peace of mind that if something goes wrong then they won't be stuck with a turkey. And once they've had a good customer service experience they'll come back for more and bring their friends with them."
People of all walks already come into our store (more ads definitely needed though), and like I said before we will not stick anyone with turkeys. I'm not trying to be defensive here but It's important to understand we will take anything back, but the only Item we give cash refunds for is unopened still wrapped new games, movies, whatever. Once it is opened, it's used. plain and simple. We'll give store credit for the used price, but no cash. It's worked very well for us and has kept a lot of trouble out of the store.
"The bottom line is this: the better you treat your customers, the better they'll treat you. Give them great prices and great customer service and they'll never shop elsewhere again."
God I wish that were true. We sell most everything for less. We have excellent customer service. But since we're not a mega chain, we are not deemed "cool" by the masses. And I've asked customers why they ever go to these places, and they usually say they just HAD to have that game on release day. Never mind the fact we would have had it a week later for five dollars less, They HAD to have it. People are sheep, and will go wherever TV tells them to.
"(Oh yeah, and if you're feeling real creative, try putting together some kind of customer reward scheme - buy ten titles get the next one free, that sort of thing. Or promote games as they launch - free stuff, like posters, with new titles. Bonus rewards for preordering upcoming releases. If you give it, they will come.)"
Tried sales. Buy three get one free. Management had ideas about if they paid for the item to come into the store, it should be paid for to leave the store. I know, I'm still trying to knock sense in. Clubs or punchcards are flaky at best from my personal experiance. But then I HAD to sell (thats right, membership fee) a club at a certain bookstore I worked at. Underhanded dosen't even begin to describe that experiance... As for preorders and promotional material, I wish to god I could get my hands on some. Being such a small business, we have to go through a secondary distributor which means no release day titles, no displays, no nothing.
"Good luck"
Thanks. we'll need it. People just don't want to buy local, they have to have the absolute latest greatest thing (ex: Xbox). But on the upside almost daily I get people wandering in looking for something to justify that xbox... besides freakin' Halo. I wish I could belive superior customer service and lower prices are truly what consumers wanted. They want the illusion of being better than they are. They get this walking into one of those mega chain stores. Most people frequenting our mall would consider themselves too good to be in our store. Of course when I get better fixture, a decent inventory and cash management system going, and the damn website linked to the inventory database... Thanks for the insights, you raised some valid points, and I hope there's more posts on this topic like that.
I've seen cost and profit numbers for 7-11, some stuff, the markup is insane, other stuff (cigarettes), they even lose money. That's right 7-11 dosen't pay 10% of total retail for every item. Some things it's almost 95%. Now at the game store I work at, a new PS/2 Game (say Medal of Honor: Frontline) Costs us $40. Thats right. $40. We have to pay so much because we don't order tens of thousands of copies from Sony or whoever. We then sell that game for $50. Minus Franchise fee (10%), Minus mall rent (~10%) we might make a cool nickel on it. Now say this same game gets traded in, we give $25 Credit or $15 cash for it, and sell it for $35. Needless to say, we make our money on used games. Now those big dishonest companies I was talking about, might give you $10-$15 Store Credit Only, and turn around and sell the used copy for $48. They make bank new or used, and people actually pay two dollars less for a used copy. Then they come to our store. They take a quick trip back to GameStop,Software Etc.,Babbages, whatever they're calling themselves this week, get a nifty refund, and they find themselves back in the "Lame" Gamestore, paying less. The competing store in our mall has gotten tougher on returns recently I've noticed... Bottom Line, we give more, sell for less, and don't pull underhanded shit whenever we feel like it. But people still keep trudging on to corporate land paying more and generally getting screwed...
My point was that someone will buy/lease the equipment. It's not going to be ripped out of the ground and sold as scrap, just some other corp. will get it. As to you being unemployed, I can't imagine that this wole "Communications" thing is just going to shrivel up and die. Ownership will just change hands. I mean that whole "Internet" thing died right? Everybody shut down their servers and went home, right? Yeah, lots of people got laid off, but on the upside, customer service at McDonalds went way up...
Lines and services will be sold to the highest bidder. It's not like every piece of equipment will be shredded...
Can't wait till my local telco goes down. Good ole Qwest. A lot of morons are pointing to all the corporate collapses saying it's the fault of the "Clinton Era" for de-regulation. Wrong. People are fucking greedy. But then again, telling big business they can do whatever they want is like telling a 15 year old boy he can watch whatever he wants on late night cable. Skinamax anyone?
Why not ban ALL telemarketing, junk mail, and spam. NOBODY Likes this crap, and it's a huge waste of resources. Of course that'll put a lot of people out of jobs, but there's got to be SOMETHING these people can do that actually benefits society...
Funny, I kepp hearing about the ps2 having problems with movies, but every dvd I put in has worked fine. Granted I've only tried about 50 or so...
I didn't say I disliked it. What I was trying to get at is that I usually prefer more story, less "you found AncientDragonFireShield +4" or "You Looked around, but nothing was underfoot". I know thats not fair, but so what. I've found from past experiance that anything associated with the D&D license just isn't for me. I tried to like baldurs gate, I really did. And as for me being moved by hype? I never said I wasn't human. We're all affected by it, even though I recognize the need for change, I still get influenced by hype. And so does everyone else. Maybe I just don't take posting on slashdot as seriously as I should...
I don't make my game purchasing decisions based on media awards, I decide on the basis of the game. Right now from what I've seen, Doom 3 will be sucking up disk space on my machine as soon as possible, but then the much much hyped Neverwinter Nights probably will not. I'm not into the click click clickity click dungeon crawl. It may be called Game of the century by every trade publication known to man, But I probably won't buy it. In order for this to be a less media controlled society, we need to stop letting our purchasing decisions influenced by tripe like this. But that of course would require common sense breaking out all over, and ain't gonna happen. Ignoring all that crap, this award basically is for the Best Demo. Not game. When it's finished, then we can call it game of the century, right now it's just a damn pretty demo.
Final Fantasy 11 was the topic of the conversation. FFX requires no extras besides the mem card that you already have, and beats the crap out of any D&D based "Dungeon Crawl". Story=Good Thing. Click Click Click...=Diablo-like bullshit for "Dungeon Masters". Online "Games" are nothing more than chat rooms for obsessed Losers. Get a life. Get a PS2, and stop bitching about HD space standard Linux install is a couple a gigs or so. If my OS takes that much, than a game taking 4.5 is no big deal.
We'll get "The Sixth Sense" Co-Branded Windows... "I see Blue Screens..."
Games on cell phones! I truly have no need of a life whatsover now. Of course not having a life would leave me no reason for a cell phone. Then again most people with cell phones... Hmm. I have no life and want to be able to play even the most mind numbing, ugly ass games wherever I go. Think I'll get me a PDA... Yeah, thats worth $250...
Quick! somebody dig up McCarthy so we can get the commie hunt in full effect!
I think he meant dozens of servers on one machine... Even still, I can't see slack slipping up on that.
Was this study perchance done by the Center For Figuring Out Really Obvious Things? People want to see space? Whouda thunk it...