We all shared phone numbers and such back during the big tournaments. It was the only realistic way to play. Attacks on big planets had to be incredibly coordinated... six full ICs hitting the planet at once... all dead... back again, keep doing it until they ran out of fuel... it was pretty comical, with all of the bot programs and whatnot. During the serious games, all you had to do was enter a sector with an enemy fighter and a botting program would instantly warp a planet in on you and destroy you.
So, who remembers Trade Wars 2002? I bet a lot of people reading this article do... it was probably the most popular of the door games. I played it way back when, when BBSes were all the rage amongst nerds, and again when it was played heavily by a group of dedicated players online (through TelNet-based BBS software) - I even participated in the big yearly tournament once, although I can't remember for the life of me what it was called, and still have a registered copy of SWATH (Strategic Weapons and Automagic Tradewars Helper).
Interestingly enough, it's recently been re-imagined and re-released with a very slick web interface (I didn't like it at first, but I'm a big fan now.)
Another old door game that's taken an interesting twist is Improbable Island, a very tongue-in-cheek mod of the original LoRD, which uses (with full permission) the LoGD code. It's full of clever humour in a very British style, reminiscent of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett: http://www.improbableisland.com/ Or again, I have a referral link if you're feeling particularly nice: http://www.improbableisland.com/home.php?r=Artificer
Both are great revivals of the classics, in my opinion... and of course are a lot of fun. A lot more so than many modern games, come to it... and definitely make you think a bit more.
I haven't played TWR lately, but I might get back into it if I could find a few partners. I happen to have a lot of residual skills from years of TW2002 competition.;)
If you don't like this decision, protest the same way the anti-Taliban crew did: by refusing to buy the game.
Of course, it's doubtful anyone will actually care so much about this as not to buy it. Two things about gamers - gamers love to whine and blow things out of proportion, and gamers always cave because they would rather accept what they are being told to accept than not have the game.
Look at WoW players. Every single day, it's whine whine whine, but it's never quit, quit, quit. This is no different.
Trust me. If you want to protest this decision, do it the same way the PC censorship crowd did - with your wallet - and let EA know why you aren't buying. Obviously, they listen to that sort of feedback.
How is GameStop earning money an odd definition of profit? That's the only definition of profit there is. If I have math homework, perhaps you need english.
I'm not being dishonest in the slightest. We have something in this corporate world of ours called a "royalty payment" - that means that every time someone's work is sold they get a cut - and game developers are losing out on the majority of royalties owed them, due to piracy and the secondary market. In addition, companies like GameStop are cleaning up on that secondary market, and they're doing it on the backs of the people actually doing the work that's making them rich.
I don't think that's fair competition, and I also think that this is why every game company out there is being swallowed by the corporate juggernauts. Companies like Activision (which recently bought Blizzard - not exactly a small company!) and EA (who recently bought everyone else) who are more concerned about money than the customer. Who makes the decisions to publish one-time DLC? The guys from the big umbrella corporations, not the developers.
It seems that most people here would rather save five bucks than put food on the developers' tables though.
When you buy a used game though, it very often is a lost "new" sale for a company, especially when the game is basically brand new. The major difference is that unlike in your example, where you state that "the used game market prevents them from having that $15" - it prevents them from having all $60.
Game companies are losing a massive amount due to used game resellers, who are just raking in the cash at next to no overhead.
You want to know the bigger picture?
Game companies are losing MILLIONS from the secondary market and companies like GameStop are getting rich from their ashes.
Game publishers earn no money whatsoever from a secondary sale. None. Zero. Zilch.
GameStop pays out, generally, $1-3 for a used game. They sell it for $10-40, and that's pure profit. And they will often sell the same used game 5-6 times. They HAVE to find a way to continue to make a profit from the secondary market, because companies like GameStop are rapidly bleeding them dry due to the unfair competition from secondary market sellers.
The car analogy is very poor, because when you buy a used car... it's used! It's not in the same condition as a new car. When you buy a used game... it functions exactly the same as it did when it was brand new. If you'd like a comparison to the used car market, consider the free DLC the difference between a new car and a used car. It's an incentive to buy the product new. Otherwise, there is no reason besides getting the game on day one... and the used copies usually only take a few days to hit the market.
There is a reason that PC developers are mostly only publishing online content now. There is a reason that big conglomerates like Electronic Arts are taking over every other video game company. There is a reason that the face of the gaming industry is changing so rapidly - and not for the better - and it's because of piracy, and companies like GameStop.
Selling used games is just another form of piracy. The developer receives absolutely nothing for the sale of a product that functions exactly as if it were new, and while used game retailers refuse to publish their sales numbers publicly, it is likely that more used copies of a game are now sold than new copies, due to the effects of repeated reselling. Maybe we should consider, I don't know, actually paying game developers for their efforts, instead of the leeches that take money from them.
So let's stop discussing how to "run companies out of business" before ALL of the gaming companies are swallowed up by corporate conglomerates that only want to make more money, ok?
Slashdot Mirror
We all shared phone numbers and such back during the big tournaments. It was the only realistic way to play. Attacks on big planets had to be incredibly coordinated... six full ICs hitting the planet at once... all dead... back again, keep doing it until they ran out of fuel... it was pretty comical, with all of the bot programs and whatnot. During the serious games, all you had to do was enter a sector with an enemy fighter and a botting program would instantly warp a planet in on you and destroy you.
I'm not sure - it's been a long time - but I believe that version was TW 2001, the precursor to 2002.
I'm not sure where to find the full game, but I did find the source here: http://www.programmersheaven.com/download/4048/download.aspx
It should probably take a few whole seconds to compile =P
Loved TEOS :)
Some days I'd just grab a few Warp Units and blip back and forth between Hothor and Volcana as much as possible.
You could make money in that game really fast if you kept the best trade routes in mind.
So, who remembers Trade Wars 2002? I bet a lot of people reading this article do... it was probably the most popular of the door games. I played it way back when, when BBSes were all the rage amongst nerds, and again when it was played heavily by a group of dedicated players online (through TelNet-based BBS software) - I even participated in the big yearly tournament once, although I can't remember for the life of me what it was called, and still have a registered copy of SWATH (Strategic Weapons and Automagic Tradewars Helper).
Interestingly enough, it's recently been re-imagined and re-released with a very slick web interface (I didn't like it at first, but I'm a big fan now.)
For anyone who's interested, you can check the new one out here:
http://www.tradewarsrising.com/
Or, if you're feeling generous, I also have an affiliate link:
http://www.tradewarsrising.com/?creator=Dorque
Another old door game that's taken an interesting twist is Improbable Island, a very tongue-in-cheek mod of the original LoRD, which uses (with full permission) the LoGD code. It's full of clever humour in a very British style, reminiscent of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett:
http://www.improbableisland.com/
Or again, I have a referral link if you're feeling particularly nice:
http://www.improbableisland.com/home.php?r=Artificer
Both are great revivals of the classics, in my opinion... and of course are a lot of fun. A lot more so than many modern games, come to it... and definitely make you think a bit more.
I haven't played TWR lately, but I might get back into it if I could find a few partners. I happen to have a lot of residual skills from years of TW2002 competition. ;)
So, uh, hey...
If you don't like this decision, protest the same way the anti-Taliban crew did: by refusing to buy the game.
Of course, it's doubtful anyone will actually care so much about this as not to buy it. Two things about gamers - gamers love to whine and blow things out of proportion, and gamers always cave because they would rather accept what they are being told to accept than not have the game.
Look at WoW players. Every single day, it's whine whine whine, but it's never quit, quit, quit. This is no different.
Trust me. If you want to protest this decision, do it the same way the PC censorship crowd did - with your wallet - and let EA know why you aren't buying. Obviously, they listen to that sort of feedback.
How is GameStop earning money an odd definition of profit? That's the only definition of profit there is. If I have math homework, perhaps you need english.
I'm not being dishonest in the slightest. We have something in this corporate world of ours called a "royalty payment" - that means that every time someone's work is sold they get a cut - and game developers are losing out on the majority of royalties owed them, due to piracy and the secondary market. In addition, companies like GameStop are cleaning up on that secondary market, and they're doing it on the backs of the people actually doing the work that's making them rich.
I don't think that's fair competition, and I also think that this is why every game company out there is being swallowed by the corporate juggernauts. Companies like Activision (which recently bought Blizzard - not exactly a small company!) and EA (who recently bought everyone else) who are more concerned about money than the customer. Who makes the decisions to publish one-time DLC? The guys from the big umbrella corporations, not the developers.
It seems that most people here would rather save five bucks than put food on the developers' tables though.
When you buy a used game though, it very often is a lost "new" sale for a company, especially when the game is basically brand new. The major difference is that unlike in your example, where you state that "the used game market prevents them from having that $15" - it prevents them from having all $60.
Game companies are losing a massive amount due to used game resellers, who are just raking in the cash at next to no overhead.
You want to know the bigger picture? Game companies are losing MILLIONS from the secondary market and companies like GameStop are getting rich from their ashes. Game publishers earn no money whatsoever from a secondary sale. None. Zero. Zilch. GameStop pays out, generally, $1-3 for a used game. They sell it for $10-40, and that's pure profit. And they will often sell the same used game 5-6 times. They HAVE to find a way to continue to make a profit from the secondary market, because companies like GameStop are rapidly bleeding them dry due to the unfair competition from secondary market sellers. The car analogy is very poor, because when you buy a used car... it's used! It's not in the same condition as a new car. When you buy a used game... it functions exactly the same as it did when it was brand new. If you'd like a comparison to the used car market, consider the free DLC the difference between a new car and a used car. It's an incentive to buy the product new. Otherwise, there is no reason besides getting the game on day one... and the used copies usually only take a few days to hit the market. There is a reason that PC developers are mostly only publishing online content now. There is a reason that big conglomerates like Electronic Arts are taking over every other video game company. There is a reason that the face of the gaming industry is changing so rapidly - and not for the better - and it's because of piracy, and companies like GameStop. Selling used games is just another form of piracy. The developer receives absolutely nothing for the sale of a product that functions exactly as if it were new, and while used game retailers refuse to publish their sales numbers publicly, it is likely that more used copies of a game are now sold than new copies, due to the effects of repeated reselling. Maybe we should consider, I don't know, actually paying game developers for their efforts, instead of the leeches that take money from them. So let's stop discussing how to "run companies out of business" before ALL of the gaming companies are swallowed up by corporate conglomerates that only want to make more money, ok?