> At least in the UK, they deliberately crippled the player by only allowing > it to output DVDs in composite.
Guh-wha? Are you sure? Or did you just not get the right adapter (the PS2 has a proprietary video output jack that you need to plug an adapter cable into--if all you have the composite adapter cable, then composite is all you can do)? My PS2 here in the US does S-Video just fine, thank you very much.
In any game where the exchange of game items or money for real money is prohibited (and there is evidence that the game owners expend effort enforcing that prohibition), this is not an issue, as the game money (or items) doesn't have a fair market value; you're prohibited by your contract with the company running the game from marketing the stuff.
Well, here's another thing: Five years ago people said, "We can't migrate from Windows; all our stuff runs on Office, or some Windows-specific app." Now people say, "We can't migrate from Windows, all our web apps use Active-X controls and can only run on IE."
The OP probably misparaphrased the law. I'll bet the law actually states that it's illegal to be doing something else with one (or both) hand(s) while driving.
> WoW is definitely not capitalist in that there are no in game assets that
> produce income, AKA Capital.
Really? What would you call that Sword of Uberness that you paid an arm and a leg for and that you just used to kill the mob with the really keen drop, which would have been difficult/impossible to kill without the uber weapon? Looks like a game asset that produces income, AKA Capital, to me...
> I would also say that taking the word opportunity
> out of the sentence drastically changes the meaning.
> I've seen many companies use technology in their
> business and greatly increase costs. Technology only
> gives us the opportunity to reduce costs, it doesn't
> guarantee it.
Very true, but the sentence doesn't need "opportunity" to relate that fact. It does so by saying "Technology can improve your busines" instead of "Technology *will* improve your business".
Well, Square did some good planning from the outset, too. For one, there's not that much money flowing *into* the economy, because most mobs don't drop cash, they only drop items. As far as I can recall, only Beastmen drop gil, and they don't drop much. Nobody is *ever* excited about the money when farming--it's always about the items. That really cuts down on the cash inflow compared to most MMORPGs where everybody drops money. You still have selling items to vendors (rarely done because the prices are so crappy), some quests, earning rank, but overall it's not that much. Square has done some intelligent thinking about how to keep inflation under control--which isn't to say they've beaten it. But a recent raid on gilsellers with deletion of their accoutns (and cash hoards) has been bringing prices down of late.
Yep. Final Fantasy XI did something pretty clever. Most player-to-player trades happen through the Auction House in that game. The AH had always charged a small fee for placing items on Auction; what Square did is change the fee to depend on how much you were asking for the item. So as prices go up, people pay more in auction fees.
I'm sorry, but you've just completely bought the snake oil. There are *no* controlled studies showing that low level EM has these kinds of effects, there are *no* studies showing a correlation between living near pylons and cancer or other diseases, there is simply *no* concrete evidence for any this. Experiements haven't disproved it? They haven't shown any reason to believe it's so. Experiments haven't disproved that we're all followed by clouds of invisible, undetectable green fairies, either. No matter how much you insist "It's so! It's so! It's obvious!" it is *not* obvious, and there is no reason for assuming it is so. Good luck on your NIMBY quest, which if carried to its obvious conclusion *will* cost lives--the services provided by electricty save lives every day.
> There are existing cases to show that bombarding individuals with > various frequencies of sound can have adverse effect
That's because we have something called "ears". Point out the electricty sensing organ in the human body and I'd be a lot more inclined to take this nonsense seriously.
"And, oy, his WIFE...some of my orcs went over to complain to her about their dog always doing his business RIGHT ON blasted thorny heath--do you know how hard it is to make those come in right?--and now they're afraid to even leave the Cavern of Eternal Torment..."
> MMORPGs don't have a save feature either. > The main point is permadeath. If you die, you lose the character.
Um, no. You've never played an MMORPG, have you? Permadeath is just about unheard of. If you die, you reappear at your bind point (save point, local hospital, clone location, whatever the MMORPG uses for that concept). You generally take some sort of penalty, often lost experience (in WoW, you don't even lose that, just some damage to your equipment, and not always that).
"Only in your mind its called 'genital mutilation', not every thinks like that. Some people believe in women using their bodies as they see fit and not being forced to undermine their liberties for some liberal zealots who like to think that they can tell other people how to live."
Yes, I am against female circumision. And, in fact, I am moderately pro-choice, although I do believe in some controls on abortion. But your argument, to put it mildly, doesn't work.
> Similarly, all the plans and prototypes for the TSR-2 were destroyed.
No, the Conservative government in 1981 actually considered reviving it. There was some consideration of necessary upgrades (including the use of carbon fiber composites in the construction), but it was dropped fairly quickly. Still, I don't see how they could've even begun to discuss it if they didn't have the plans.
Slashdot Mirror
> At least in the UK, they deliberately crippled the player by only allowing
> it to output DVDs in composite.
Guh-wha? Are you sure? Or did you just not get the right adapter (the PS2 has a
proprietary video output jack that you need to plug an adapter cable into--if
all you have the composite adapter cable, then composite is all you can do)?
My PS2 here in the US does S-Video just fine, thank you very much.
Chris Mattern
Haloware Twisted!
Chris Mattern
Looking at the stills gave me real Street Fighter II flashbacks...
Chris Mattern
In any game where the exchange of game items or money for real money is prohibited (and there is evidence that the game owners expend effort enforcing that prohibition), this is not an issue, as the game money (or items) doesn't have a fair market value; you're prohibited by your contract with the company running the game from marketing the stuff.
Chris Mattern
...that the forces of Nod are already en route to claim the pyramid. No comment was available from GDI at this time.
Chris Mattern
Geez, and I thought Trek technobabble was bad. I'm surprised they didn't try reversing the polarity of the neutron flow...
Chris Mattern
Well, here's another thing: Five years ago people said, "We can't migrate from Windows; all our stuff runs on Office, or some Windows-specific app." Now people say, "We can't migrate from Windows, all our web apps use Active-X controls and can only run on IE."
Chris Mattern
The OP probably misparaphrased the law. I'll bet the law actually states that it's illegal to be doing something else with one (or both) hand(s) while driving.
Chris Mattern
> WoW is definitely not capitalist in that there are no in game assets that
> produce income, AKA Capital.
Really? What would you call that Sword of Uberness that you paid an arm and a leg for and that you just used to kill the mob with the really keen drop, which would have been difficult/impossible to kill without the uber weapon? Looks like a game asset that produces income, AKA Capital, to me...
Chris Mattern
Should be "Jarndyce v. Jarndyce", beying an actual legal suit, of course.
Chris Mattern
> I would also say that taking the word opportunity
> out of the sentence drastically changes the meaning.
> I've seen many companies use technology in their
> business and greatly increase costs. Technology only
> gives us the opportunity to reduce costs, it doesn't
> guarantee it.
Very true, but the sentence doesn't need "opportunity" to
relate that fact. It does so by saying "Technology
can improve your busines" instead of "Technology *will*
improve your business".
Chris Mattern
> Will they place the transmitters on buoys?
No, they'll be strapping them on gulls.
Chris Mattern
Well, Square did some good planning from the outset, too. For one, there's not that much money flowing *into* the economy, because most mobs don't drop cash, they only drop items. As far as I can recall, only Beastmen drop gil, and they don't drop much. Nobody is *ever* excited about the money when farming--it's always about the items. That really cuts down on the cash inflow compared to most MMORPGs where everybody drops money. You still have selling items to vendors (rarely done because the prices are so crappy), some quests, earning rank, but overall it's not that much. Square has done some intelligent thinking about how to keep inflation under control--which isn't to say they've beaten it. But a recent raid on gilsellers with deletion of their accoutns (and cash hoards) has been bringing prices down of late.
Chris Mattern
Yep. Final Fantasy XI did something pretty clever. Most player-to-player trades happen through the Auction House in that game. The AH had always charged a small fee for placing items on Auction; what Square did is change the fee to depend on how much you were asking for the item. So as prices go up, people pay more in auction fees.
Chris Mattern
> SAS Shoes -- Buy Local, or Buy Nothing at all.
Gee, I don't live in San Antonio, so I guess I can't buy them.
Chris Mattern
I'm sorry, but you've just completely bought the snake oil. There are *no* controlled studies showing that low level EM has these kinds of effects, there are *no* studies showing a correlation between living near pylons and cancer or other diseases, there is simply *no* concrete evidence for any this. Experiements haven't disproved it? They haven't shown any reason to believe it's so. Experiments haven't disproved that we're all followed by clouds of invisible, undetectable green fairies, either. No matter how much you insist "It's so! It's so! It's obvious!" it is *not* obvious, and there is no reason for assuming it is so. Good luck on your NIMBY quest, which if carried to its obvious conclusion *will* cost lives--the services provided by electricty save lives every day.
Chris Mattern
> There are existing cases to show that bombarding individuals with
> various frequencies of sound can have adverse effect
That's because we have something called "ears". Point out the electricty sensing organ in the human body and I'd be a lot more inclined to take this nonsense seriously.
Chris Mattern
"And, oy, his WIFE...some of my orcs went over to complain to her about their dog always doing his business RIGHT ON blasted thorny heath--do you know how hard it is to make those come in right?--and now they're afraid to even leave the Cavern of Eternal Torment..."
Chris Mattern
> MMORPGs don't have a save feature either.
> The main point is permadeath. If you die, you lose the character.
Um, no. You've never played an MMORPG, have you? Permadeath is just about unheard of. If you die, you reappear at your bind point (save point, local hospital, clone location, whatever the MMORPG uses for that concept). You generally take some sort of penalty, often lost experience (in WoW, you don't even lose that, just some damage to your equipment, and not always that).
Chris Mattern
Naw, trying to move on to another set of analogies would be like trying to put a Cadillac engine into a VW.
Chris Mattern
> Batman is a normal English word - it's a rank in the British Army.
It's not a rank, it's a job. Basically, it's an enlisted man who pulls duty as a valet to an officer.
Chris Mattern
Hmmm. Let's try inverting that, with, say, female circumcision.
"Only in your mind its called 'genital mutilation', not every thinks like that. Some people believe in women using their bodies as they see fit and not being forced to undermine their liberties for some liberal zealots who like to think that they can tell other people how to live."
Yes, I am against female circumision. And, in fact, I am moderately pro-choice, although I do believe in some controls on abortion. But your argument, to put it mildly, doesn't work.
Chris Mattern
> Similarly, all the plans and prototypes for the TSR-2 were destroyed.
No, the Conservative government in 1981 actually considered reviving it. There was some consideration of necessary upgrades (including the use of carbon fiber composites in the construction), but it was dropped fairly quickly. Still, I don't see how they could've even begun to discuss it if they didn't have the plans.
Chris mattern
> and.. I suppose you'll just stand by your well-locked
> mailbox every day to let the mail carrier in?
The box has a slot, Einstein. You don't need a key to put stuff in, only to get stuff out.
Chris Mattern
> All of the D&D iconic classes are available (even poncy bards),
:-)
You see, that's why I like Final Fantasy, where the bards are always spoony!
Chris Mattern